


Only a question of When

by LoLecter



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cannibalism, Darkish Will, Denial of Feelings, Europe, Forgiveness, Gay Character, Hannibal POV, Hannibal past, Hannigram - Freeform, Happy Ending, Internal Conflict, Italy, Jealous Will, Jealousy, M/M, Mostly Will, Murder, Not at the begining, On the Run, Phone Call, Post-Episode: s02e13 Mizumono, Post-Season/Series 02, Romance, Saving Each Other, Slow Build, Will POV, Will in danger, Worried Will, missing each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 10:55:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1816030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoLecter/pseuds/LoLecter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The FBI force Will to help them catch Hannibal as soon as he is out of the hospital. Hannibal in Europe finds ways to contact Will and leave him messages, trying to repair their relationship. While he is learning more about Hannibal and having more confused feeling everyday Will try to decide which side he is really on and if he really want to spend the rest of his life without Hannibal Lecter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language and the last time I actually wrote more than a paragraph in english is 2 years ago in my last english class.

When he woke up in the hospital Will was not confused for long, to his disappointment. He would have enjoyed a couple of minutes of not remembering... well everything really. The first thing he saw wa the image of Hannibal slicing Abigail throat and the hurt on his face while he spoke to Will. He didn't remember a lot after that. The cops arriving, the medic, blue and red lights... He lost consciousness at that moment. He didn’t feel too much pain so they must have gave him something strong. His entire body felt heavy and weak. It was sunny outside and the light made his head hurt. The room was too white, his memory was too clear... He kept seeing Hannibal caressing his face with tenderness just before he put the knife in his stomach. He could still feel the strong grip of Hannibal around him, holding him close like he would a lover. Before he realized it his eyes were watering and he was on the brink of letting out a sob. No, he couldn’t break down now. Not here. Biting his lips hard he tried to focus on anything to escape the memories. The sound of the nurses in the corridor, the feel of the bed beneath him, the blue of the sky he could see from the window.

That was the moment someone chose to enter his room and notice he was awake. The nurse seemed really happy to see him awake (more than he was to be anyway). He has been asleep for a month. Happily he has not lost too much blood before getting to the hospital. A couple of hours in surgery and he was out of the woods. After that it was only a question of waking up from the coma. She asked him if he was in any pain, offered him some water, but all he could do was nod his answers. Just when she left to get the doctor he finally found his voice back and asked about Abigail. She didn't know who he was talking about of course. He described her and something flashed on her faces. She was sorry for him. The young lady died before she could make it to the ER. Will thought he should probably ask about Alana and Jack, but he doubted she knew anything. The FBI would probably come question him soon enough. They should tell him. For now he just could not bring himself to cry. When the nurse left the room he let a tear roll off his eye. He knew she would probably not survive this time, but still. He wanted to scream in anger. It was not even the fact that she was dead, again, that hurt so much. It was the fact that it was Hannibal who did it, in front of him, to punish him for his betrayal. He was responsible for her death. At this moment he hated himself probably as much as he hated Hannibal. He felt guilty for having betrayed Hannibal and guilty for having cared enough about the man to not kill him and warn him that they were coming for him. He didn't even hate him he realizes. He understood him too much for that. He was angry for sure, but he got why Hannibal did what he did.

He felt betrayed, hurt. For the first time in probably years he had let someone in and let himself cared. He loved Will, in a twisted way he couldn’t deny that, but it didn’t change the fact that it was still love. In fact Hannibal had probably loved Will more than anyone had ever loved him.  He could feel it. He could see it in the way the man looked at him. He adored him. He made him feel accepted, loved and even, strangely, protected. For the first time in his life someone understood him completely. This was why he had to warn him, call him to tell him that they knew. He couldn’t go with him no matter how much a part of him wished it. He wasn’t sure he could have put him behind bars either when it came to it. Not much choice left really except letting him run away. Helping him survive. However, he had made the mistake of underestimating how hurt Hannibal would feel by his betrayal. Too focused on his internal conflict he had not considered who he was dealing with. The serial killer didn’t deal really well with rejection it turned out. Really. Not. Well. Will could still not believe he had kept Abigail alive all this time just for him. He had planned a life for the three of them. He had seen the possibility of a family. Would he have gone away with him if he knew Abigail was alive? He honestly didn’t know and not knowing was terrifying. However, none of this really mattered now. He had lost his chance. Angry at himself, Hannibal and the world Will let the tears slide off his eyes. As stupid as it sounded even to himself he had to admit it. He was heartbroken over Hannibal. Over the man who destroyed his life and probably killed the only people he cared about.

***

Hannibal looked at the picture of Will in his hospital bed for probably the tenth time since the beginning of the hour. He couldn’t bring himself to look away. He had not seen Will for 2 months now, but it felt more like years. For the first and last time in his life probably Hannibal was happy Freddie Lound was the rude person that she was. If she had some respect she would never had snuck in the hospital  and the doctor would not have this picture of Will. He wouldn’t know the details of Will condition. He knew he would survive. He didn’t intend to kill him. Only punish him. He didn’t regret what he did. All he regreted was not having been more careful with his heart. He fell for Will and that was a mistake he should never have made in the first place. Now he missed him and he hated that. The last time he  had missed someone he was 10 and it was his sister. How did Will get so deep inside him? The answer to that question was simple Bedelia would probably say. He let him. He had not plan to leave with the woman at first, but after what happened at his house he knew they would be searching for him and a man alone taking a plane for Europe was more suspicious than a happy married couple leaving for their honeymoon. It had not taken a lot to convince Bedelia. She was scared of him as much as she liked to pretend not to be. She was also smart enough to know that if she played her card right she could end up alive at the end of all of this. Once with him at the airport she had seemed to just accept her fate and decided to enjoy the trip. He admired her for it. Once in France they had gone to a small hotel under false identities and Hannibal had started to plan his future more precisely. His entire plan had been changed when Will had betrayed him and he had had to adjust.

He had first get rid of all his suits and got a new haircut. He started wearing more casual clothes. He didn’t go low enough to wear jeans, but still. Then he had located his aunt [L](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0001407/?ref_=tt_cl_t3)ady Murasaki. He knew she was somewhere in France, but had probably remarried and this changed her name. He couldn’t tell exactly why he wanted to see her. At first, when he thought Will was coming with him, it had been to present Will to his only family left alive. Idiot sentimentality. Now he just wanted to know how she was. Wanted her to know what he had become. He was proud of who he was and he wanted her to be too. Bedelia had been a really cooperative hostage during this time. After 2 weeks he had even started to let her go out on her own knowing that she would always return. She knew that he would find her if she tried to run. She had no money, no passport, nothing. Their interactions were strangely normal. Relax. They didn’t speak a lot beside to ask trivial questions such as what they would eat or what they should do during the day. Bedelia loved to walk in the city and when she couldn’t do that she would go read a book that she had bought with Hannibal money on the terrace of the hotel. Hannibal, him, had to be more careful. Even when he didn’t shave and with his new appearance he was still a wanted man. He could go out, but he would avoid places with too much people for safety. After a month at the hotel they had finally left and went to the north of the country to find Hannibal’s aunt. She had remarried as he thought, but her second husband had died four years ago. She was living alone in a beautiful house far from the city and enjoying the rest of her days. The psychiatrist didn’t plan to stay there more than a week if things went well.

Lady Murasaki had been happier to see him than he had expected. At first she didn’t say anything, but the way she looked at him and smiled, he knew he was safe with her. She wasn’t gonna call anyone. He wasn’t sure if she even knew of his situation. She was obviously curious about Bedelia, but she didn’t ask any question only offering her a room and being the great host he remembered her to be. After they had dined together the first night him and his aunt had went outside with a glass of wine they had discussed until late in the night. She had told him what had happened to her after he had left all those years ago and he told her a bit about his life in America. Leaving some important bit out obviously, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew who he was and she knew what he had probably done. She didn’t want to know. She wanted to pretend he was a normal man for night. She wanted to pretend the boy she had loved had stayed innocent and good. She was proud of the life he had build for himself as he had expected and Hannibal was surprised of how happy that made him. Even at his age. He didn’t talk about Will. Will was too important to be mentioned as only one more thing in his life. Will deserved an entire conversation dedicated only to him.

During the next days he went with his aunt to a small town not too far from the house. They had bought some fresh vegetable and Hannibal some paint because her exterior furniture clearly needed it. Bedelia hadn't asked to go, but she had asked him to buy her some clothes more appropriate for the summer which he did. Lady Murasaki finally brought herself to ask about her to Hannibal and he told her she used to be his psychiatrist and friend. She didn’t ask what she was now. That night he cooked again for the first time since he had left the state. He had missed it and he felt a bit more himself after it.

It turned out her aunt knew of his situation. She had heard he was researched and why two weeks before his arrival. She wasn’t really surprised when she saw him arrive at her house. She knew the man he was, but she loved the boy he used to be and who was still inside of him. She didn’t approve of his action, but she didn’t hate him for it. She just couldn’t. Hannibal felt a great deal relieved after learning that she knew even if he didn’t show it. Time went on and after a week of cooking, taking walks in the county, reading and having great conversation he found out he didn’t want to leave yet. Happily for him she didn’t want him to leave either and she asked him if he could stay for two more weeks. She was a lonely old lady at the end of the day and she enjoyed having company very much even if that company was her researched nephew.

The second week, Hannibal saw something that made him both very happy and very sad. Freddie Lound had posted an article regarding Will condition. He had been checking her blog almost compulsively the first weeks. It was how he had got the confirmation that Jack and Abigail had died and learnt what the world thought of him. Hannibal the cannibal. Reading the interviews with people who had been regular guest at his dinner parties saying they would never be able to eat meat again had been one of the funniest thing he had seen in a long time. However, it was not for this reason he looked at the horrible blog that often. He didn’t care about Jack, or the people he had traumatised. He wanted to know how Will was doing and no news paper had been able to give him that information until then. Will was out of the coma and healing well. The picture with the article however showed him one week before waking up. It was very bad quality and just Will asleep in an hospital bed, but still seeing it had made Hannibal feel like he could breathe again for a instant. Then sadness had took over him again. If only Will had not rejected him. He could have been with him enjoying the country side and getting to know his aunt. Abigail with them finally having a family again. They could have been planning their trip across Europe. Will had destroyed every plan he had and he was angry at him for this. He forgave him. Of course he forgave him. He loved the man so much he would probably forgive him anything. He knew Will had just not been ready. It was too soon. One day he thought.

That night he had talked to his aunt about Will for the first time. He also talked about Abigail, Jack and Alana since they were linked to his story with him, but mostly he talked about Will. How extraordinary he was. How he saw and understood things nobody else did. How he had so much potential inside him. He talked about their relationship. How it had evolved. What it could have become. What he wished had happened and what happened instead. It was the first time he had told anyone how he truly felt about the man. The first time he opened up to anyone since Will. He didn’t say all of it, but what he didn’t say Lady Murasaki guessed. She didn’t judge him or say anything about what he made Will endure for his own good.

He never said the exact words, but she knew her nephew had fallen in love for the first and probably only time.

It was a strange love. Different than most people. She pitied the poor boy for having been the one Hannibal had chosen. It had obviously ruin his life in more than one way, but at the same time she was sure somewhere along the way this Will Graham had also fallen for Hannibal. He probably would never admit it and his moral stopped him from doing anything about it, but he had realized how precious the gift Hannibal had given him was. Her nephew was this strange creature you couldn’t help, but love no matter how much wrong he did. She hoped she would one day speak to this brave man who had like her seen the entirety that was Hannibal Lecter and loved him still. She sensed they would have a lot to talk about.

At the end of the night she couldn’t help but take her nephew hand in hers. That was the only comfort she could give him and the only she knew he would accept. It was two in the morning when he went back to his room and for the first time since he had arrived at his aunt he took out Will’s jacket out of the bag where he had put it. He had held it like it was the most precious thing in the world. If he focused hard enough he could still smell Will on it.

Bedelia had been enjoying Lady Murasaki library and the country side very much. For a hostage she didn’t have much to complain about. They still didn’t speak much and even less so now that he had his aunt, but after a month and a half of small talk Bedelia had broken the unspoken rule and asked Hannibal a question or more so laid a fact:  
“You miss him. Will Graham», she had said after catching him looking at the picture of Will at the hospital on Freddie’ blog once again.

He had showed no emotion, looked up and said very frankly because she already knew anyway: “Yes”.  
A day later she asked him what were his plans for the future. He said they would leave in two weeks for Lithuania. She had said nothing to that and went back to reading her book.

The two week had passed both too fast and too slow for Hannibal taste. The time he spent with his aunt always seemed too go by too fast. However, thinking about Will so much had made him miss him much more and he was getting more impatient to see him again every day. He knew he would see him again. It was only a question of when. He had learned from Misses Lound blog that Will was now out of the hospital. That meant that he would probably be in Europe very soon if his prediction were right. After two months he would finally start the journey that would reunite them again. Hannibal knew Will would find Lady Murasaki, but he didn’t mind. He knew she would lie for him and if she didn’t they would never arrest a lonely old lady for wanting to see her nephew. She wouldn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know or couldn’t learn by other simpler means. He trusted her once younger and she had not disappointed him. She would not do it either this time.

For the eleventh time this hour he looked at the only picture of Will he had, him in a hospital bed. It was time to go. His bags in his hands and the tickets plane in his pocket he finally closed the computer and went downstairs to say his goodbye to Lady Murasaki.

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is From Will POV only. A lot of flashback again. I don't like writing in chronological order I think. lol

 

Will was sitting with the dogs in his living room cuddling with them for what seemed the first time a long while. It was also probably the last time, but he didn’t want to think about that.  He was leaving for Europe in 2 hours and no matter how much he would have preferred to stay here and become a hermit he knew that he had to do it. For once the FBI was forcing him to do something a part of him actually wanted to do even if he would never admit it to anyone.

He had been awake for barely two weeks when the man replacing Jack had come to his hospital room and asked him to help them catch Hannibal Lecter. Peter Taylor was not as imposing as Jack had been or even authoritative. He was a calm man. He never shouted or showed any sign of anger. However, he had a calm determination and way with words that made it hard to say no to him. He knew how to manipulate people into doing something and then made them think they had been the one wanting to do it in the first place. He probably would have had to work harder on convincing Will if it was not for the fact that the FBI wasn’t exactly asking Will. He had Killed Randall Tier, mutilated his body and they knew it. It didn’t matter that the man had tried to kill him or that he had only mutilated him to gain Hannibal trust.   


“So you’re telling me I either help you catch Hannibal Lecter or I go back to prison?”   
Peter had passed a hand in his brown gray hair and sighed.   
“We would prefer to not have to come to that, but yes that is the fact.”  
  
The man was tired, less charming and confident than usual. He had known Jack for ten years and the circumstance in which he had taken his place had not been the one he would have preferred. He was desperate to catch the man that had killed his friend and he was somehow smart enough to know that the more honest he was with Will the more chance he had to get him to help.   


“Would I only have to help you from here or would I have to go chase after him myself?”  
“Whatever you think is best. If you think you going after him will help us to catch him then I strongly suggest you do. If not you can stay here. However, knowing how you usually work I personally think it would be best to have you there with us.” had said the man with a look in his eyes that said he didn’t have a choice at all, but he was ready to pretend if it made Will feel better.   
“Who would come with me?” the empathy had asked sighing sensing that the decision was already made anyway.   
“Me, an FBI forensic expert and the cops there would help of course.”  
Well, at least he wouldn’t have to socialize too much. He could leave that part to Taylor. The only thing he could do at this stage was try to make the best of the situation. At least he wouldn’t have to go back to prison, he had thought in an attempt to cheer himself up. It hadn’t worked. At least in prison he wouldn’t have to face what he was so afraid of. Nevertheless if he had to leave he would need some preparation.

  “I don’t know when they will let me out of the hospital, but give me a couple of days once I’m out to put my things in order and plan things for once we are there at the BAU. Then we can go after him and I will do whatever you want.”  
  
Peter Taylor had had a smile that anyone not looking as closely as Will would have missed and said: “Of course. I will contact you as soon as I hear that you are fit to go. ”.  
  
On that he had left and Will had had the rest of the day to curse internally at how much he hated his life. The main reason why he didn’t want to go chase after Hannibal was that a big part of him _wanted_ to go. He wanted to see Hannibal again. Wanted to hear his voice and feel close to him. He shouldn’t, but he couldn’t change how he felt. Even after he had heard of Jack’s death and Bella’s suicide a couple of days later. Even with Alana now being blind and so wounded she would probably never be the same. He hated himself for it. Thought he deserved every bad thing that ever happened to him simply for missing the cannibal so much. Thank heaven feeling depress was expected after all that happened to him so no one suspected that his bad mood was actually caused by missing the man who had almost kill him.

They had sent a psychiatrist to see him a couple of days after he had got out of his coma. A woman. Considering his last experience with a male psychiatrist it was probably smart of them. She was nice enough, but Will just could not talk to her. He had barely said a word to her beside that yes he felt sad that Abigail was dead again and that he had lost a close friend. She had thought of Jack when she had said close friend and he knew it. He had not felt the need to correct her and say that when he thought of the close friend he had lost he thought of Hannibal.

After that she had not come back saying that if he wanted to talk he just had to ask and she would be there for him.   
From what he had heard even Alana had refuse to talk to anyone. She had not told him that of course and loyal to herself she had even encourage him to talk to someone when she had come to visit him the day after that. He had smiled at that thankful that the psychiatrist was now blind and couldn’t read him as well as she used to do. He couldn’t blame her really. She only wanted to help him and their situations were very different. Alana probably didn’t need to talk as much as him. The only problem was that as much as Will would probably have needed a good therapy he also couldn’t really talk to anyone without risking ending up in an asylum or in prison.   


He could imagine the face of the psychiatrist that had come to see him if he had told her how much he had enjoyed Hannibal feeding someone face to his dogs. Mason Verger faces to be more precise. He loved seeing the man cut to his own flesh and eating his own nose. Mostly because he knew the man had deserved it for all that he had done and because Margot would finally have the vengeance she deserved. He had developed a strange affection for the young woman and as weird as it sounded considering he had slept with her he saw her a bit like a little sister. A smart, a bit mean at times, but honest sister.   
  
He had almost laughed out loud alone in his room thinking about the reaction anyone would have hearing all of that.   
  
Alana must have heard of him going back to work with the FBI because 2 days after Peter Taylor visit she came back to see him. She was angry. At first it was at him, but after he explained he was pretty much given a choice between prison or that, it was at the FBI and the stupid people who thought it was a good idea to send him after a man whom he had been so close to and then had almost killed him out of hurt for his betrayal. Will was left speechless at that. He should have guessed having so much time to think Alana would have started to understand his relationship with Hannibal a bit more. He had thought she would be worried about his sanity or him risking his life and of course she was, but that was not why she thought it was such a bad idea.   
“Will can you promise me something?”  
He had said yes ready to say anything to calm her apprehensions. Her pretty founded apprehensions really.  
“I know you will have to get even closer to him and get into his head in order to catch him, but please try not to let him get into yours...”she had hesitated before going on, “... more than he already did. I was so blind when it came to you two. I never saw how much Hannibal was enrapt into you. How much you cared for him in your own way even after all he did. I knew about his feeling for you in the end, but I never saw yours. So while you’re out there...”  
“Alana...” Will cut her afraid of what she was gonna say. He didn’t want anyone else knowing how he felt about the man, how deep Hannibal had planted his root into him. He had barely admitted it to himself and hearing her say it out loud made it too real.   
  
“No, let me finish. After that I will never bother you with it again. I know you can’t promise that you won’t doubt which side you’re really on once you’re there. You don’t control that. However, you can try to not let him get to you. Don’t get too close Will. It almost killed you the first time. This time I’m afraid you won’t survive it.”  
The curly man swallowed awkwardly. What was he supposed to say to that? He had nodded before remembering she couldn’t see him. An hesitant “Ok” was all that he had been able to get out.

After that he had started to dread his release from the hospital even more. One day before getting out when he thought he couldn’t want to go after Hannibal less someone came to see him that made him change his mind.

Margot Verger looked as beautiful as usual. More at peace too. At first he had been curious to see why she was there. If he felt some affection for the woman he was pretty sure she didn’t care about him more than she had Hannibal. In other words not at all. He couldn’t help himself from asking “How is your brother?” with a dark smile after she had commented at seeing him “So you’re alive” with a smirk. Like she didn’t already know that from the paper.   
“Learning how to use the joystick of his new electric wheel chair.”   
Margot had finally got half of everything and it was now safe in some account his brother couldn’t access. He had gotten tired of her torturing him after only a month and gave her everything she wanted if she agreed to leave him alone.

Will smiled, learning that. A truly amused and happy smile. Gosh, he was a bad person; he thought not feeling an ounce of guilt. The woman finally told him what he instantly guessed was the real reason for her visit.   
“He is going to take a trip around Europe. He leaves in two weeks.”  
“Why?”, had asked the FBI agent having big doubts what the answer would be.  
“The same reason you will leave for Europe in a couple of days I assume. Except I’m not sure he will be as kind as you once he find him.”  
“What make you think I will be kind?”  
She gave him a look that said “Please, I’m not stupid”.   
“Do you want me to tell the FBI a multi millionaire with resources and more motivation than all of us put together is after the same man as us?”  
“That is your decision. I’m only telling you so you can avoid getting in the way of my brother and put your life in danger. Or get in the way and try to save him. I don’t know which one and I suspect you don’t either. Nonetheless, no matter your choice do be careful.”  
The man had a smug smile.   
“I didn’t know you cared about my surviving so much. I’m touch.”   
He preferred to ignore the rest of what she had said for the moment. She was the second person to suspect that he might doubt his loyalty to the FBI and the rest of the world really and chose Hannibal in the end. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He had been too transparent with his emotion during his plan to capture the serial killer.   
Margot was not the kind to show emotion of any kind unless she couldn’t avoid it so she didn’t like admitting she cared about the man. Even if it was just a little bit. He had been good to her when most people in her life had not been and she wouldn’t forget that.  However, that didn’t mean she would straight out tell him that.   
“Yeah, well...You and Dr Lecter did help me get what I want. When you think about it I’m probably one of the only patients he genuinely helped in the end and I’m smart enough to know that I owe you that.”  
Will only shrugged. He didn’t feel like he had helped Margot enough for her to feel grateful and he certainly didn’t want to think that he had had enough influence over Hannibal to stop him from killing Mason. The man was so rude the word was not strong enough to describe how impolite he had probably been with Hannibal. That alone would have made Hannibal want to kill him not caring about his sister losing her heritage. It would have helped her in a way, but not really. Giving her the idea of the baby would have helped too except that Mason would have learnt about it at some point anyway and still do the same thing he had done.   
What Hannibal had done in the end had been the best thing he could do for Margot. However, he didn’t think if the killer had really wanted Mason Verger dead he would have been able to stop him.

So in the end his conversation with the now rich woman had give a lot more to think about. There was a new player in the game now. Should he tell the FBI that?  When he went to the BAU only 12 hours after being release from the hospital he still didn’t know. Finally, he opted to tell them some people might also want to get personal revenge on Hannibal after all he had done and they should probably be on the look for that. If they wanted him alive that is. Peter Taylor told him that he would prefer him alive and if Dr Lecter was to die it should be from their hands and because they had no other choice.   


They started planning the trip by going through Hannibal history. Where he had grown up, when and how his parent died, where he had lived after that, etc. Will learned a great deal about his old friend that afternoon. He didn’t like that he had to learn it from files and not the man himself. He already knew about a little sister dying and him living with an aunt, but that was it really. Suddenly he felt ashamed by how little he really knew Hannibal Lecter. He knew the man he had become, but he had never bothered to learn how he had become it.

When he saw that Lady Murasaki was still alive and lived in France he made it their first destination. He didn’t think he would be there and if he had been he would be gone by the time they arrived. He wanted to go because the more he learned about the doctor’s past the easier it would be to track him down. He had to admit he was also very curious to hear what she would have to say about how Hannibal had been as a young man. Taylor accepted without complaining thinking that if the killer had been there they could track him down from there or get something from the old lady as to where he went next.

The next days he went get his paperwork in order and do the psych evaluation he was obligated to have before being giving his gun back. Peter Taylor had been very clear that he was better come back with an ok from the psychiatrist or it was in prison he would be treated. Will lied easily, not telling the woman about the nightmares, his doubt or conflicted feelings.   
Since he had waked up from his coma two months ago his nightmares had all been of the last time he saw Hannibal. Hannibal touching his face tenderly, Hannibal gutting him, Hannibal speech, Hannibal killing Abigail, Hannibal, Hannibal, Hannibal... He just couldn’t get him out of his head and it was worse since the man had stabbed him. How fucked up did that make him? Now, he also had a big scar to remind him of the man every time he changed or took a shower. The pain was horrible at time, but he welcomed it. While he suffered he wasn’t thinking or feeling guilty or sad. Sad... what a soft word for what he was feeling. It was like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest.

And he couldn’t even dwell on it because the guilt was eating him alive every time he felt this hole in his chest. He saw Alana blind and broken, Jack and Abigail’s body. He heard what everyone said of the man, (That article about old acquaintances of Hannibal becoming vegetarian had made him laugh more than it was probably allowed and thinking that the psychiatrist had probably read it and found it as funny as him had made him laugh even more because of how messed up it was.) but that didn’t change how he felt about him. How he view him.

He had to leave in one hour now. He had arranged for his dog to get taken care of for a three months period, but he felt that in the end they would all end up in shelter or in the wild like he found them. Alana would probably have taken them had she not become blind. One or two dogs were manageable, but he couldn’t ask her to take care of seven of them while learning everything over again. Maybe she could take in Winston. He was a good dog. He could help her.   
  
He didn’t know why exactly, but he had the feeling it was the last time he saw the animals. They had been his family and now he had to abandon them. It broke his heart, but he didn’t really have a choice. He would have had to abandon them too if he went to prison. There was a chance he could come back to them if he caught Hannibal or killed him even, but he had big doubt about that last one. He would be as capable of killing him he would be killing his dog.   
  
Maybe he would catch Hannibal and put him in prison like he should have done the first time? Somehow, the idea seemed ridiculous to Will. It was a possibility, but the only fact that he didn’t want the killer to go to prison didn’t augur well for that ending. No, it would end in death: His death, Hannibal’s death (not by his hands) or both of them. He had made his peace with that. It had to end like this. The other possibility was too frightening to even thing about.

His morals would not allow it. Would it? Hannibal would never trust him again. He had said he forgave him, but trusting him... Surely he couldn’t do that again. Did Will even forgave him? He wanted to punch himself for being so stupid. Yes, he forgave him. The agent contracted the muscle of his stomach bringing the pain he felt every time he did it involuntarily. He grunted surprised by how much it hurt even after all this time and Winston raised his head from his thigh curious. Will gave him a tight smile and petted him trying to reassure him as best as he could.     
  
The pain and Winston made him forget his train of thought just like he had planned. Getting a look around he felt twinge in his chest. He would miss his house too. Not wanting to dwell on it he got up to the surprise of his seven friends and went to open the door. The dogs understanding ran out of the house and Will followed with a ball. He played with them outside for the time remaining. He couldn’t run with them like before, still healing as he was, but could jog and throw a ball.   


Will was probably paranoid, but he had the feeling the dogs sensed they wouldn’t see him again. Getting them in the house was more difficult than usual. It was like they knew that once they were inside their master would close the door on them and never come back. He couldn’t bring himself to look at them one last time and once they were all in doors he took his bag and went out without a second look. Someone would come to take three of them in an hour and his vet would come to take the rest tonight. They would be okay. For a while at least.

When he arrived at the airport he was greeted with Peter Taylor and a blonde woman he later learned was named Kim Douglas. She was the forensic expert. He didn’t say much to either of them besides the usual greeting.

Taylor had learned very soon that Will was not a very sociable person and he never forced him to talk unless necessary so he stayed silent. He could sense the younger man was nervous and to be honest he had every reason to be. He was himself naturally a quiet man so he had no problem leaving Will alone with his thought while they got to their plane and during the flight.

He found himself thinking about his partner at home. They were used to not see much of each other with his work, but he couldn’t remember the last time he left him for more than a week. It was not often that a famous cannibalistic serial killer escaped to Europe after killing an FBI agent, wounding another and having killed countless other. Matt had understood that. The jurisdiction and paperwork to go after Lecter themselves in Europe had been a nightmare and in the end they had refused to let Graham go alone with Douglas so he had had to come. The FBI would have loved to send countless agents over there, but they didn’t have the right and it wouldn’t have helped anyway. Dr Lecter was a smart man and the only hope they had to catch him if they ever did was with the help of Will Graham. Either as a profiler or simply as bait to attract the serial killer.

In his seat in the plane Will was remembered of the last time he took a plane with Abigail and it did nothing to put him in a better mood. The only thing he could think about was “I’m gonna see him again”. He knew it would probably takes months, but he was confident he would find Hannibal if only because Hannibal would probably want to see him again. And he hated that he felt so happy about it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the origin story of Hannibal a little bit.

***

Hannibal was carefully placing the organs of Henry Boomer on the ground before him. He had not plan to kill a man in his own house when he first came to Lithuania, but fate had decided otherwise. He knew he had wanted to leave something for Will, whom he knew would come here eventually, but now he would end up leaving him something more than a note. He would leave him a piece of art.

When he had arrived in the old town close to where he had grew up he had gotten a room in a small inn where everyone was so welcoming it was disconcerting at first for the killer. The little town had so little tourist that when one came they made sure to treat him like royalty. However, Hannibal was not a tourist. When he had revealed he was originally from the country and he still spoke the language people had started acting more natural around him and treat him like one of their own. He had spent his first day making research to learn who was in possession of the Lecter house at the moment. A rich English men who came here every summer it turned out. He sometimes brings a woman with him, but not this year. He was there alone. The man was not very sociable and very rude from what he had heard.

He still had not planned to kill him at finding that out. People could be wrong. He didn’t want to kill a man base on gossip.

The next day he had gone take a walk around his old house feeling very wary of his emotions. He was fine with a little nostalgia, but he didn’t want sadness about his family and particularly his sister to creep in while he was there. The house was barely in view when he was hit with his first memory. He saw himself, a 10 years old boy, and Misha running in that forest after hearing their mother scream at them to come home.  He remembered Misha’s little legs barely following him even as he was slowing down considerably for her, her laugh when he had finally taken her in his arms in the last meters and the happiness he had felt.

He was very deep in memory indeed when the English man had interrupted his thought. He had understood at first. He was on his land after all. However, the way he had done it and acted even has he politely explained why he was there had made the killer want to eat human flesh very much for the first time in months now.

“Hey you! What are you doing here?”  
“I’m sorry if I disturbed you monsieur. I only came to see the house where I grew up while I was in passage in the country. If you let me walk around a little I promise I will be gon...”  
“I don’t care if you grew up here or if you have this place tattooed on your chest. It’s private property. Now get out of my land before I call the cops.”  
The man was high. Hannibal noticed it immediately and even if he hadn’t he would have smell it on him. He was younger than he had expected, probably around 28 eight.

Obviously he had lost his parent very young and ended up with too much money and nobody to raise him properly. It was not his fault he was so rude and pathetic really, but at the end of the day did the doctor really care? The answer to that question was no. The man had been rude to him and he frankly didn’t deserve to live in his childhood house.

At the Inn he had said he would be going hunting the next morning and had asked if he could help them cook whatever he would bring back. They had been more than happy to accept and had wished him a good hunt.

It would have been still very far from the truth to say that the English man was easy to get close to. None of the doors had proper locks and the man was still asleep when he had come into his room to snap his neck. He had only paralyzed him. He wanted him to be alive while he started his work.

When he had woke up he was already placed on the wall and Hannibal was starting to open his chest. His panicked scream had amused the serial killer greatly and he surprised himself thinking it had been a while since he had felt this much pleasure doing anything.

After the third organ taken out of his body the man had finally passed out. During all of this Hannibal had decided to put some music. He had found the man computer and linked it to his overpriced speaker playing some classical music while he did his work. He was humming happily by the end of it feeling somewhat proud of himself.

He left the computer open to the music he was listening hoping Will would listen to it while analyzing the scene. Even if Will wasn’t not a particularly sadistic man he would appreciate the art and meaning behind it all. He would see this as the gift it was.

While walking back to his hotel Hannibal thought of Bedelia Du Maurier who was probably already in Ireland comfortably installed in some installation similar to his. At first he had planned to kill her as soon as they would arrive in his home country simply because she was no longer useful to him and he wasn’t in the habit of leaving witness behind. However, when she had asked him while on the plane if it was to be her last meal referring to what she was about to eat, making him know she had guessed he didn’t intend on keeping her much longer, he had froze. His psychiatrist was a smart woman and he respected her for it. He didn’t want to eat her or even make a spectacle of her death. She didn’t deserve it.

Will would probably say to him that there was no point in killing her then. If he could talk to Will about such matter. Thinking about it Hannibal was tired of killing or hurting people he liked. He had done far too much of it for his liking lately. It was when he had decided he would not dump the blonde woman body in some river where she would decompose and never be found. He would let her live. He would let her go.

What did he have to lose? She could tell nothing about his next locations beside Lithuania and he would be gone from his home country in four days at most. She was also smart enough to know that if he let her live and learned she had gone straight to the cops he would escape and make her pay for the treason greatly. As much as she would like to think Bedelia was not a moral person. She was at first a survivor and if she had to lie and protect him for a couple of days to ensure her own safety then she would do it without hesitation.

Maybe she had seen the conflict on his face during all of this thought process because she didn’t had anything or bother him for the rest of the flight. Once at the airport he asked her to wait for him a moment and he went to buy a ticket plane for England leaving in two hours. He came back to her and gave it to her with the forged passport and identity card he had been using for her since leaving America. He didn’t say anything letting her make her own conclusion.

“You are letting me go.” She said with surprise.   
“You will go to Ireland as soon as you land in England and go settle in a small hostel of your choice for a week. I left you enough money in the bag to last you for a month. You can go talk to the police if you decide to, but only after a week. Not sooner.”  
The threat in his voice was clear enough. He gave her a look that meant “Don’t make me regret trusting you or I will make you regret being alive”.

With a small smile she had nodded. “Thank you Hannibal. I will give Will Graham your regards. That is if you don’t speak to him first.” On that she had taken her bag ready to go wait in the small coffee shop of the airport.   
“Enjoy your flight” had he said bowing his head lightly.   
And it was the last time he had seen the woman.

The cop had not yet come in town searching for him two days later so he could assume she had done as he asked. He was happy he didn’t have to regret his decision. Regret was not something he liked to have and recently he felt like he had had more reason to have them than in the last twenty years.

Founding himself already in view of the inn Hannibal instinctively held on tighter to his little cool box.

The psychiatrist had finally decided on taking a big chunk of his victim thigh for super. He asked to be able to keep the meal a secret and the cook was only too happy to have a free night. The kitchen was old did not have everything he would have needed to make what he had originally plan, but he made due. The meal was still delicious and he took great pleasure in preparing it and offering it to the staff of the Inn. He knew they would probably learn what the meat had been soon and it made the whole experience even more amusing than usual.

That night in his room he lied on his bed starring at the ceiling and let himself thinks of what Will was probably doing and where he was. He was curious to learn what his aunt would tell him, but he knew he could trust her to help his cause. Did Will think he was still angry at him? Considering the last thing he had done to him it was a definitive possibility. He had said he forgave him before slicing Abigail’s throat, but he doubted the man had believed him. Understandable. It was truth he had been pretty hurt at the time, but he had had good reasons. Will had betrayed him and even if he had called to help him escape in the end how was he suppose to know if he had call to protect him or Jack ? He knew the man had lied to him about killing Freddie Lounds, but what else had he lied about? Maybe Will had faked everything. How was he suppose to know what had been real and not real?

A part of him told him that no matter how much the empath had changed he was still not that skilled of an actor. What Will had felt for him had been real too. The man had probably not expected to fall for him while manipulating him into his trap, but it had happened nonetheless. He would probably find out how deep he had gotten into Will’s heart the next time he spoke to him.

He wondered what he would feel about the note he had left him. Maybe he was still angry at him for gutting him and killing Abigail in front of him. That was a real possibility he had to consider. At the same time how could a man who understood him so much not understand why he had done what he did? Understanding and forgiving were two different things, he had to remind himself. He had trusted Will to forgive him once and look where that had gotten him.

This time he would make sure Will was on his side before risking himself. He would protect himself. Was he thinking about him too? Missing him too? Hannibal could have slapped himself for that thought. He was so pathetic. Will had made him horribly human. And sappy too. He should have hated him for that and sometimes for really short periods of time he did hate him. When the pain of loving him overthrew everything else. When he felt his heart he had thought gone long ago break in his chest. When he started to dream of him two days after leaving him. When alone in his room at night he missed him more than anything in the world. When he thought nothing would ever feel good again if he didn’t have the strange antisocial man by his side.

At this instant Hannibal Lecter would have killed everyone in the little town he was in just to have Will Graham with him. No, he would have killed everyone in the world if that meant he could have the other man in his arm. God it was getting out of hands!  He was becoming such a sentimental idiot. He had to get Will in his life again and end this horrible mood he was in.

 

***

Will was a grumpy mess when he arrived in France. His sleep had been horrible in the plane and he had been constantly waked up by new dream where he saw Hannibal again. All ending in more horrible ways than the last. They were supposed to go meet a local law officer in a town where Bedelia had been spotted three weeks ago. They had only released her picture two weeks ago after finding out why nobody had seen a lonely man leave the states at the same time Hannibal had done.

A couple going on a romantic trip to Paris was much less suspicious. Why they hadn’t thought of that before Will didn’t know. The FBI had never been particularly smart, but lately they were reaching new tops. Nobody had realized the blonde woman had disappeared until a week after she was last seen and even then they had all just thought she had left like the last time.

Nobody had found it suspicious she would give up such a perfect deal with the authorities. Or that she had disappeared at the same time Hannibal Lecter had supposedly left the country.

In the end, when they had figure it they had released her picture along with Hannibal’s one. It had only taken two weeks to receive three calls of people seeing her in the same town.

The killer knew how to blend in, but apparently Bedelia Du Maurier not so much. Had she made herself noticeable on purpose? She was a smart woman. It was definitely a possibility. None of the witness had seen her with a man however. It was always alone. If she had been a hostage Hannibal would never have let her out alone in the city, Will thought.

Had he been planning to leave with her from the beginning? Was she his plan B in case Will turned out to betray him? Had he even consider the possibility Will would betray him? His reaction would tell no. So maybe he just had thought fast. Maybe she was just the first person he had thought of.

Going away with her didn’t necessarily mean she was important to him. There was no need to worry. The FBI agent realized he was still annoyed at the same time it hit him that he was jealous.

The young forensic expert that had come with them probably seeing his horrified expression asked him if he was ok as they were getting in the cab. He swallowed with difficulty and nodded not convincing her for a minute, but at least making her realize he clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

They went to check in at a hotel and put their bags in their respective rooms before going out immediately again to the local police station.  Still horrified by what he was feeling Will didn’t respond much to Taylor talking to him about why Dr Lecter would have chosen this town to stay. 

Once they were there and talking to one of the witness the agent wondered why they were even there. How did knowing at what hotel Hannibal had been staying would help them find him? Because that was why there were here. From the places where people said to having seen the blonde psychiatrist they deduced with the local police officer helping them (Will didn’t bother to learn his name) what hotel they could have been staying in.

With a list of three of them, it was a touristic town after all; they went in a car with the French detective and pictures of the couple of psychiatrist. They knew they had not register under their real names. Obviously. However, they could not have an infinite number of false identities paper and cards so maybe with a bit of luck they would use those names again and they could find them that way.

Will found himself thinking Hannibal was probably too smart to use the same name in more than one country, but he didn’t say anything. He only idea was to go speak to an old lady who may or may not have seen the fugitive and then go from there. Even if the doctor had been to see his aunt they were no doubt he either trusted her not to say anything that might put him at risk or he didn’t trust her and he had killed her before leaving to his next destination.

They found a receptionist who recognized Dr Du Maurier’s picture at the second hotel. She also recognized Hannibal with big eyes, horrified that she had apparently been in presence of the famous killer without realizing it. He had apparently got a haircut that made him look a lot more casual. He had stubble beard and more casual clothes. The agent found it hard to imagine his friend like that. The less put together he had ever seen him was in a white shirt covered in blood and hair a bit disheveled.

The lady gave them the false name they had use repeating again and again how polite they had been and how much like a normal couple they looked. Will couldn’t help himself.  
“Were they very physical? Were they acting very... _couply_ if you know what I mean?”  
The woman seemed to need to think about it. After a moment she said still clearly trying to remember: “Well, they were not all over each other, but the way he had his hand behind her back and whispered something to her at some point... it was very... Intimate. They seemed comfortable with each other.”

The curly man didn’t say anything, only nodded. The beast in chest growled even louder and he had to look away to try and hide his emotion.

Kim who was watching him very carefully gave Peter Taylor a small nudge and he looked at him. Will cursed internally at how bad he was at hiding his emotions. The older man looked surprised and suspicious. He didn’t say anything about it and thanked the receptionist for her help.

The French detective who was in fact a very nice and helpful man offered to bring them back to their hotel. They clearly needed to sleep in a real bed. In the car Peter Taylor found himself wondering if he was only imagining it or if Will Graham had really seemed annoyed at hearing about Lecter and his old psychiatrist acting like a couple. Douglas had seen it too and in fact had even made him look at the young agent. Maybe he was annoyed at something else. He didn’t know what else it could be however.

The only explanation that came to his mind was that Graham was jealous. Hannibal Lecter had been his friend at some point. He knew that. He also knew that the killer had some sort of fascination with the man and the agent had used that to manipulate him. They had been close at some point. They had to have been for Lecter to be honest with Will about his crime. However, he had never considered they might have been more than close friend before that. He had his suspicion that Lecter most probably developed some sort of crush on Graham and it was why the man concerned had succeeded so easily in fooling him.

Considering how bad Will Graham was at hiding his emotions and how smart the cannibal usual was it was the only explanation. He had not considered his agent might also have been feeling the same way. He had never heard anything about him being gay, but he himself had been with a man for more than ten years now and almost nobody at work knew about his sexual orientation.

It was not that he hides it. It just never came to the conversation or he never got close enough to colleagues to talk about his love life. If Graham who was almost a hermit at times was gay or bisexual there was no reason anyone would have never learn about it since he seemed to stay away from human in general, be it men or women.

Of course all of that was only extrapolation. He couldn’t be certain from his reaction to a witness only. If he was right in his theory and there had been something more between the two man he would see it soon enough. After that he would only have to figure out if that meant he could trust Will Graham more or less so because of it.

 

They were on their way back from Lady Musaraki’s house to the little town to eat something and discuss their next move when Taylor got the call. They had found the body of the current owner of Hannibal old house in it, expose in a way that was very typical of the Chesapeake Ripper.

The phone being on speakerphone Will heard it and immediately asked them: “Don’t touch anything. We’re coming as soon as we can”. Peter added that there should be there in 24 hours max and asked if they knew how long the body had been there. The policeman said;” probably no more than two days”, in an accent that reminded Will of Hannibal way too much for his liking.

“You were right. He did go back to his old house.” Kim said after the older man had ended the call. Will shrugged. “It was just a guess.”

He didn’t want to be complimented by the woman about being right when his feeling concerning the man they were chasing were getting more and more confused every day. She had asked him very frankly that first night at the hotel (they were sharing a room) ,after arriving in France, if there had been anything between him and Hannibal. He had been shocked into silence for what felt like a very long twenty seconds under her intense gaze.

Finally he had gotten out a “No. There wasn’t... we weren’t...” and that’s all he had been able to say. Seeing how freaked out he seemed that she had thought that she added;   
“Relax. I would not blame you if it was the case. You didn’t know who he was until very late.”  
He didn’t correct her about that.  
“And even then you used your connection to him help catch him. Ok, it was a bad plan, but the intention was still there. You wanted to catch him. So if there was something between the two of you it makes you even more of a good man to try and arrest him even with your feeling for him. Sorry if I’m wrong. I just assumed you probably wouldn’t admit it even if it was true.”

“What...what made you think...?”  
“Well your whole history with him really is rather _interesting_ and there is the way you acted today when the lady talked about him and his psychiatrist. You looked like a jealous lover.”  
Sighing, he did not say anything to that immediately. What was he suppose to say? That he had only realized he loved him in more than a friendly way after realizing he was also probably a killer and had set him up. After that his anger had made him think he was over the man, but once the intense emotion had gone away and he had found himself close to Hannibal again... Everything had gotten complicated.

He couldn’t admit the fact that he only ended up loving the man even more after learning to know who he really was. He couldn’t say that even after all he did to him he still missed him every day.

In the end he had settler for a half truth.   
“We were never together” he had said after lying down on his bed looking everywhere, but at the blonde woman in the other bed next to him.   
“I think he had... feelings for me. Maybe. And I... Well if he hadn’t been who he was... but nothing ever actually happened.”   
She seemed satisfied with that answer and left him alone after that. The morning after he had told her he thought Hannibal would probably go back to where he had grew up in Lithuania at some point. He didn’t know if he would risk it now, but they should probably check with the police there to be sure. So Taylor had called, explained and the situation and asked for someone to go take a look.

She tried to give him a small smile in the car mirror, but he didn’t return it. Hannibal knew there were gonna find that body. He knew they would know it was him who had done it. He could have killed the man and dump the body somewhere where no one would find it, but it wasn’t what he did. He wanted it to be found. He wanted people to know where he had been. Maybe even Will to know. If he went by what he had learnt from Lady Murasaki earlier today it was definitively for Will.

The old Asian lady ,even if not related biologically to Hannibal, had remind him of the man so much Will had almost felt the man in the room with them. She had politely asked them if they wanted anything to drink or eat before letting them start asking any questions. Will had ask if she had some coffee and Kim some tea. Once they were all sat in the living room with their drinks Peter had went straight to the point.

 

“Miss Murasaki have you seen you nephew Hannibal Lecter recently? Or been in contact with him in any way?”  
She had looked at him not surprised at all and that alone had give him Will his answer.    
“Yes, officer I have seen him. In fact he left not even a week ago.”  
Kim almost choked on her tea and Peter’s body went hard. He had not expected this.  

“You do know that Mister Lecter is a fugitive researched for the murder of many people in the US including an FBI agent?”  
Again she did not look surprised at all.   
“Really?”  
Will couldn’t stop a smile at that. She was so much like him it was obvious he had been raised by her for many years. This woman had seen Hannibal as a teenager and a young adult. She has been the one teaching him how to behave like he did today.   
“Really!” the older FBI agent had answered annoyed.” It is really important that you tell us if you know where he might be now”.  
“My nephew did not tell me where he was going.”  
She then started to look at the curly man more attentively. Will who had not said a word besides asking for some coffee and saying thank you had the distinct impression at that moment that she was starting to have big doubts about who he was. The amused smile he had earlier and the way he behaved probably made her realize his identity, but she still asked: “I’m sorry you said you were with the FBI, but you did not say your name. Are you Will Graham by any chances?”  
More to make him realize she knew about him than to get a confirmation obviously.   
Swallowing his last sip of tea with difficulty the man nodded.   
“Yes I... Yes. How do you know about me?”  
He knew that she did not know about him from the paper. She obviously had no idea what he looked like before meeting him. Her nephew had talked to her about him.

“I heard about you.”

That thought made Will’s heart beat faster and butterflies start going crazy in his belly.   
“Miss how long did Dr Lecter stay at your house and was he with anyone by any chance?”   
“He was here for a month with a beautiful blonde woman. Very polite and very smart from what I saw.”  
The beast in Will thorax woke up feeling angry again. He felt bitter. Bedelia had always been everything that he wasn’t. She was sophisticated, as smart as Hannibal, well mannered, cultivated... In other words she was the perfect match for him. Contrary to Will.

“She did not seem to be here by choice however” added the old lady looking at Will like she was saying it especially for him.  
“Seriously?” the agent thought, “Am I that bad at hiding my emotions that everyone can see them?”

Or maybe Hannibal had just told her about them and she didn’t want him to have doubts that the man’s affection had changed. Somehow that didn’t make him feel better. What would Hannibal have to had told her for her to feel the need to reassure him about her nephew fidelity to him? It was not like there were ever a couple. He slept with Alana for half of their relationship for god sake. He had never felt threatened by Alana though. He knew Hannibal respected her and had affection for her, probably even enjoyed the sex with her, but she was unimportant to him. She didn’t even know him really. Only the facade he presented to the world. Will was the most important thing in his life and it was all that mattered.

With Bedelia he wasn’t so sure anymore. She knew the real him or at least she knew him more than Alana had. Now Lady Murasaki was saying that she wasn’t with Hannibal willingly. He shouldn’t be relieved to hear that a woman was held against her will, but he was. It was still strange that he had trust her enough to let her wander around alone in the city when arriving in France however.

“He never threatened her or seemed forceful with her, but once she asked to come to town with us and when he refused she didn’t ask to go out anymore. She had her own room and was treated very well, but she never seemed completely calm. Like she was always expecting something bad to happen. She tried to hide it and I think my nephew did not notice, but she was definitely afraid.”

Taylor reconsidered his opinion of the woman. He had thought she had gone willingly with the killer, but if this old lady who didn’t seem to want to say anything bad of her nephew said he was keeping Du Maurier against her wishes it was true. He looked at Will trying and failing to hide his relieved expression and sighed internally. The more he saw the more he realized he had been right about the man’s feeling for Lecter.

Something in Lady Murasaki expression told him he wasn’t gonna get anything else from her. Not him anyway. If Will was let alone with her he might.   
“Could we ask to go inspect the rooms where your nephew and Miss Du Maurier where staying?” he asked.   
“Of course. On the second floor. There are the last two rooms to your right. Hannibal stayed in the one with the blue bed.” She answered knowing full well he had only asked this to find an excuse to leave her alone with Will.

The younger agent looked confused not understanding why his superior had asked this. When he went to get up and follow him with Kim and was told to stay there he got even more confused.

Left alone with Hannibal’s aunt he felt her piercing gaze on him and started shifting in his seat.   
“I am gonna be honest with you Mister Graham. My nephew talked a lot to me about you.”  
He looked at her with conflicted eyes. Hearing this made him feel conflicted. He was both happy to and angry at himself for being happy.   
“I know that your relationship with him has not been an easy one. Hannibal is not an easy man to love or to be loved by. I know it. However, in case you had any doubts, he does really love you and I don’t think he has ever loved anyone like this before.”  
Will felt very angry suddenly.  
“Why are you telling me this? What do you want me to do exactly? Turn my back on the FBI and run away with him? To do that I would have to find him first and I don’t think he wants that considering I tried to get him arrested once.”  
“He knows you are conflicted and things are not simple for you right now. You will find him when he wants you to find him. When he thinks you are ready.”  
“And when would that be?” he asked very sceptic about Hannibal wanting him to find him.   
“I truly don’t know. All I know is that he doesn’t resent you for what you did anymore. I know that you did what you thought was right. I agree with you that it probably was the right thing to try and stop him. What he doesn’t understand is that we are not like him. You wouldn’t have been able to live with yourself if you didn’t at least try to arrest him. However, no matter how moral we both are Mister Graham we have one thing in common that makes us different than the rest. One thing that stop us from acting how we probably should.”  
“What is it?”  
“We both see Hannibal for who he is and we still love him for it.”  
Will fought very hard the tears that threatened to slip out of his eyes.   
“I am not asking you to leave your life and abandon you morals for him. Mostly because I think you already started doing that. I just want you to know that no matter how much people say that he is a monster and incapable of loving it is not truth. Hannibal became the man he is today because he loved someone so much her lost made him ready to do anything to feel better. He lost his humanity to get revenge.”  
“You’re talking about his sister, are you? Misha. How did she die? It is not written anywhere.”  
“After their parents died in the war he and she were left alone in the family chalet in the woods. He was 10 and she 4. Some war mercenaries found them. They made them prisoner in their own home and lived with them for months. It was winter. The war had been going on for a long time. The men were hungry and Misha was sick.”  


The agent could guess the rest. They had killed and eaten her. No surprise Hannibal had developed this obsession with eating people.  
“I don’t know exactly when, but the cabin was bombarded. Hannibal escaped and was taken into an orphanage. When he left the orphanage at 14 and found me and his uncle he barely talked. He had horrible nightmares every night and would wake up screaming half the time. When he was 16 his uncle died and left him to my care. I did the best I could to help him. He was very smart and well mannered. He seemed better. I didn’t realize back then that it was because he had been planning to go after the man who killed his sister. He went back at that cabin and found the men’s tag. He hunted them down and killed them. After that he was not the same. It was the last time I saw him until recently.”

Will knew bits of the story already from the files. Hannibal growing up in an orphanage and then going to live with his uncle. Leaving for America at 19 and never going back beside to travel a bit at 25. He had however been missing the most important parts. The puzzle that was Hannibal Lecter was now a lot clearer.

“I suspect he thought it would make him feel better and it probably did in a way since in the end he was no longer the man he was when he started.”  
He didn’t know what to say. Why was she telling him all of this?

“I know what happened to him is no excuse for what he has become, but I thought you should know how he became who he is at least.”  
Struggling to find his voice the agent nodded understanding.   
“Thank you.”

Peter had come back to the living room with Kim some minutes after that finding them in complete silence. He had thanked Lady Murasaki for her hospitality and warned her that if her nephew ever contacted her again she would have to call the authorities or she would risk going to jail. She smiled not seeming really afraid of that and assured him she would tell them. She said good luck to Will holding his gaze longer than with the others and they were gone.

As soon as they had been in the rented car Taylor had asked him what he had learnt from the aunt while alone with her.   
“Only why Hannibal is the way he is. Nothing that might help us find him” he half lied not telling him about the part in the conversation where she had talked about the man’s feeling for him.

They were planning to go to the fugitive old house anyway, not having any lead, when Peter had been call back from the Lithuanian officer he had called earlier. Will Graham was not sure what had troubled him more. Learning about Hannibal’s past, his feeling for him or realizing once and for all he was in love with the man despite all logic. He couldn’t deny it any longer. He had been jealous of Bedelia going away with the killer, doing what he couldn’t do at the time. Relieved to learn she had been abducted. He missed the man everyday and kept dreaming of him. He had gutted him and killed Abigail in front of him and he wasn’t even angry anymore at him. He was sick and going to hell for it, if ever there was one, but he loved Hannibal Lecter.

Everyone had seen it before him apparently. Even Hannibal.


	4. Chapter 4

Sitting in the terrace of a little coffee shop somewhere in Florence, Italy, Hannibal Lecter tried to enjoy the day. He was in one of the most beautiful city of the world, the weather was perfect, the coffee delicious and he still was not happy. Something was missing. Someone was missing.

He had arrived to the country in train that morning. He had taken room in a little hostel very far from any touristic sites where the owner didn’t even ask for identity card. He paid cash and left the place as soon as his first bag was safe in his room. He didn’t really worry about it getting taken though. He kept with him at all times the bag containing important things like false identities papers, cards, contact information, credit cards and such.

Although, the psychiatrist had enjoyed nice things in his old life he had never been attached to the objects he possessed. The only thing he really cared about anymore beside the boring stuff he needed to go around was not even his to begin with. He couldn’t even wear it in this country the weather being way too hot for a winter coat. It didn’t smell like Will anymore at this stage, but he didn’t care. He had become that much of a sentimental idiot.

Having finished his drink Hannibal left some money on the table and got up to his next destination. The two men having a drink at the other side of the terrace having very obviously not finished yet, still got up just after him. Not wanting to get paranoid the fugitive didn’t instantly suspect they were following him. He ignored them and made the ten minutes walk to the museum he had wanted to see again.

Younger when he had come to Florence he had loved that place so much he had came back multiple times to see it again. The paintings were all very old and very rare. Different from what you would see everywhere else. Not the kind that was copied on post card to sell in tourist shop. A lot of them had very dark theme and obscene, almost grotesque scenes. As a young man still discovering and exploring his dark urges he had been in awe.

A lot of pieces (that was what he called what he did with his victims body) he had done as the Chesapeake Ripper had been heavily inspired by some painting he had seen in that museum. Feeling very nostalgic suddenly Hannibal passed the door of the establishment. What he saw inside made his face go cold.

He had expected the place to have changed, but not to this point. He probably would have not even recognized it had he been shown pictures.  None of the paintings he had loved so much were there anymore. No rare, dark and obscene paintings. Only generic boring landscape and one or two very popular masterpiece that he had never really cared about. The place had too much tourist for his liking, but he didn’t leave yet.

He was determined to learn what had happened to the place. He had talked to the museum owner last time being there as often as he was. The old man had gotten curious. The elder had told him he intended to leave the place to his nephew. He did not want to sell for fear that the person would want to change the place and make it more tourist friendly. He didn’t make a lot of money, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t made the museum to make money out of it.

He hoped his nephew whom he saw pretty often would understand his view and keep the place intact. Or at least not transform it in a money trap for tourist. He had promised him, he had told Hannibal back then. Well obviously he had not kept his promise. He had either got greedy and stopped caring about his dead uncle wishes or sold it to someone who had transformed the place. The killer hoped for the man’s sake that he had sold it to someone and wasn’t directly responsible for this crime of taste.

If he was he would find him and show everyone what art really was, exposing his body in the front of the museum for everyone to see. He went to ask one of the employees who owned the museum at the moment. When he heard the name he got himself mentally ready for his task, already starting to plan what he would do to the Italian man.

Getting out of the building he saw the two men from earlier sitting awkwardly on a bench pretending to be busy reading a tourist pamphlet. It was definitive now. He was being followed. By who and why he didn’t know. It wasn’t any sort of authorities or they would have already arrested him. Maybe someone rich he had pissed off wanting to get their hands on him before the cops did. The thing was that the list of rich people who could want to get revenge on him was pretty long.

The fugitive started to walk casually in the opposite direction of where he was staying and when he saw a big hotel he went directly inside of it like he had a room there. He went to hide in the lobby waiting for the two men to follow him inside. They did and when he was sure they were far enough inside to not see him get out he discreetly got out, went back to the street and ran for a good five minutes.

Finally, sure he had lost them; he went to see the man he had plan to go see the moment he decided to come to the country. He wanted the house he had acquired indirectly at 26 when visiting Italy for the first time and planning he could always use a house far from everything, no one knew he possessed, one day.  He had caught the man killing someone after a business deal had gone wrong and had used that to his advantage. In the end, he had gotten a house who would be build as he had dictated and taken care of for almost nothing, in the region of this choice, until he decided he wanted to use it. He had checked on the business man once in a while always making sure he had not been arrested and was still alive.

He had allowed him to rent the house sometimes a couple of years ago or go himself if he wanted to. When the man had started selling rare furniture on the black market Hannibal had become a big client of his making the rare piece come all the way from Europe. What had first started as blackmail had ended up as a relatively good relationship between the two men. They respected each other and most importantly the man never asked him too many questions.

 

 

Before leaving the little inn in Lithuania the day after killing that arrogant British man Hannibal had taken the phone number of the place predicting that Will would have to stay there, it being the only hotel for miles around. He didn’t really know what he planned to do with it at the time, but he had an idea now and it was a really bad one.

He had been in Italy for two days. Will had surely got there by now. He could call just to ask if there were American people staying there at the moment. Then calculating the time it would be there, call Will on his cell phone when he was sure he would be in his room possibly sleeping or at least trying to. It was a horrible idea for many reasons.

The empath could try to retrace the call later if he was with people. Or he could go and tell them he had talked to him.  He could be angry with him, not having forgiven him for all he had done yet. He could get in trouble if someone realized he was talking with Hannibal. Most of all it would show Hannibal’s weakness to him and his superior if he told them about the call. He just really shouldn’t do it.

Even if he missed Will horribly and was dying to hear his voice. Even he wanted to see what he had thought of his gift or if he had forgiven him. None of this should have mattered. It was stupid reasons. He was not that controlled by his emotions. At least that’s what he told himself again and again in his bed that night. It would be around 11:30 P.M in Lithuania by now. The perfect time.

He had not even called the Inn sooner this afternoon to confirm that Will was there and had a room of his own. There was a good chance it was the case, but still. He felt like an addict in need a fix. Angry at himself for being such an idiot Hannibal grunted, but still sat down in his bed and took the phone in his hands.

***

When Peter Taylor started to talk more loudly to him Will Graham realized he had not been listening to a word the man had said. They were walking back from the crime scene to town to questions everyone on the killer stay there. Had he talked to anyone? What had he done?  How did he look like? What name had he used? Etc.  Kim had stayed at the crime scene and would be there for the rest of the day seeing as she had come with them to do exactly this, being a forensic expert and all.

Will didn’t see what she hoped to get out of this. They already knew it was Hannibal. Did they really need more proof that he was a killer? Did everyone not believe it by now?   
Or did they hope to find a map with where he would go next? Absurd.

Oh yes, Taylor. He was almost yelling at him now to get his attention.   
“I’m sorry what did you say?” he asked having no idea what the older man had been saying for the last five minutes.

Peter sighed loudly.   
“I said that I would have loved to know there was more than friendship between you and Lecter before going after him. We might have used it to our advantage sooner”  
Definitely listening with attention now Will eyes went wild.   
“What do you mean more than friendship?”  
Rolling his eyes his superior answered:  
“Do you think I’m that stupid ? At the beginning I was ready to believe it was just a game to him, your relationship. That he had a little crush on you or something, but now it’s obvious you mean a lot more to him than you told us. He talked to his aunt about you. He is still courting you while on the run. He left you a note and a flower for god sake. He wants you to forgive him.”

When he had arrived at the crime scene the thing that had hit Will had not been the way the body had been placed. He had expected something theatrical and beautiful and he had not been surprised. What he had not anticipated however had been the little note reading “To my dear mongoose, I hope you appreciate my new piece of art. H” and the single white tulip left with it. Will didn’t know much about flower, but Kim had informed him that this particular flower symbolized forgiveness. Was he asking for forgiveness or saying he had forgiven him with it? Both, Will had realized with certainty. 

Putting on gloves, he had taken the flower in his hand mesmerized by what it meant. The body could wait for now. All he cared about was what Hannibal had wanted him to understand by leaving this. A small smile had crept on his lips. After a minute of holding it smiling, he had remembered where he was and put on a neutral face. He would have loved to keep the tulip, but they would never have allowed him. Back on the ground he examined the little note. The doctor’s writing was as beautiful as ever. The message in itself was the sort of thing he would have expected from him if he had expected a note that is.

Hannibal had compared him to a mongoose the first time they had ate together. Even without the flower or the H at the end of the note he would have understood it was addressed to him. The _dear_ made his heart flutter a bit, but again he ignored it surrounded by police man as he was.

The body hanged on the wall in a crucifixion position holding with big nails, planted in the wrists and ankles, going through the wall. His entire chest was empty and painted in black. On the ground in front of him all his organs including his thorax bones were placed perfectly and covered in the same black color. There was no blood anywhere, but this wasn’t new with the killer. The back of the thigh were missing flesh.

Everyone in the room had realized what that meant. The only question was had he ate it on his own or feed it to some other people. The troubled agent would have bet Hannibal had cooked and gave them to some of the town people. The thought of knowing they would learn soon what he had fed them would only have made him want to do it even more.

As for why he had killed the man it was very simple. The man had been rude to him or had acted in a way that made Hannibal think he didn’t deserve to live in his old house. He didn’t deserve his organs either. He was empty inside so he had emptied him. The black was because he was poisoned inside. When one of the local cops had told him the victim had been a drug addict he had guessed it was the poison the man was referring to.

While not knowing Hannibal had compared him to a mongoose once, a long time ago Kim and Peter had still guessed the note was addressed to Will. The flower had been a big give away too.

Even knowing Taylor was right about him and Hannibal the younger agent protested.   
“It was not like that between us. He is just playing. Leaving a note to tease us.”  
“Stop playing stupid with me. I am starting to doubt you really want to catch the man. I saw the way you reacted hearing about Dr Du Maurier. We both saw it. And the way you looked at that flower... You looked like an enamoured teenager. Be honest with me Will. Have you ever had feelings for Dr Lecter? Was there more than friendship between you two?”  
Answering honestly to the second question at least, Will looked him straight in the eyes.   
“No.”  
“No what?”  
“No, we were never in any form of physical relationship and no, I never had feelings for him.”  
On the outside Will looked only annoyed, and frustrated with the situation, but still very calm. Inside he was panicking, hoping the older man would not call his bluff. Thanks to his months trying to manipulate Hannibal he had become an acceptable liar. Nevertheless, it was easier to lie about insignificant facts or to tell half truth than it was to straight out lie about his very strong feeling for the fugitive he was after.

Peter Taylor looked at him in silent for a while trying to figure out if he was telling the truth.

“I believe you when you say you were never in an actual relationship with him. However, as for your feelings for him, I don’t. Maybe you don’t know it yourself. Maybe it doesn’t change anything and you still want to arrest him as much as I do, but you still care about him somehow. I don’t know if I can trust you knowing this, but I will try because you are still our best chance of catching him. I’m warning you though. If I see that you are helping him escape us in any way shape or form, keeping information that could help us for you or I have any doubt that you might do something stupid I am sending you straight back home and you will go to prison as you were supposed to.”

Not knowing what to say Will nodded and went on walking.

From what they gathered in the town Bedelia had not been seen with him. There were high chances that he had killed her, but Will couldn’t bring himself to care. He knew he would have done it quickly to not make her suffer. He respected the woman too much for that. From what he knew the blonde psychiatrist didn’t have any family, lover or even friends left after she had fled from the killer months ago and left everything behind. It was sad for her, but nobody would miss her. The rest they learned was nothing new. A false identity, very polite and looked a lot less put together than on the pictures they showed.

Alone in his room that night (thank god he didn’t have to share this time), he thought about Hannibal living in the house he had seen as a child. Him running around with his sister and playing games of tags and hide and seek. Him having nightmare as a toddler and going to his parent at night. Then older taking care of Misha whenever she had nightmares. Did he have a favorite stuffed toy that he couldn’t sleep without? It was very hard to imagine the man he knew as a child. Hard to imagine him running around those woods he had seen behind the house or being told to not play with his food or run in the living room.

The little inn they were staying at was the exact one Hannibal had stayed at while being there. They had given his room to Taylor. Will had been disappointed not to be able to sleep in the same bed the psychiatrist had. He would have loved being in the room knowing Hannibal had been there not long ago probably thinking about him like he was thinking about him.

The lack of any sound told Will everyone in the building was probably asleep. It had been a hard day for the hostel owner, his wife and the two people working for them. When they had been told they had lodged a researched serial killer they had got as scared as if the murderer had still been there holding a gun at their head. They lived a quiet life in a place where nothing of notice really happened and the biggest crimes to happen in the town were bar fight twice a year. Having a dangerous fugitive stay at their hostel was probably the most interesting thing to have happened to them in years.

When they had searched him on internet and found that he was called “Hannibal the cannibal” their face had gone white and then, for the wife at least, green. They knew the owner of the big house close to the village had been killed and that their guest had brought them meat that he had cooked for them after having gone “hunting”. It didn’t take a genius to guess that they had eaten human flesh.

Will had had to bite his cheek really hard to hide his amused grin after seeing their face as they were hit with the realization. It was not funny he knew that, but he couldn’t help finding their reaction amusing. He had come to term, a long time ago, with the fact that he had been fed people for months before going to prison and once he was out, even if he had not ate as much of it as before, the time he had done it he knew what he was putting in his mouth. He knew he was eating Randall Tier (while pretending it was Freddie Lounds) and he had still enjoyed the meal. It didn’t change anything if it was human, pig or veal to him at this stage. Meat was meat and Hannibal could cook the best thing he had ever eaten.

What did it matter if one ingredient was a bit atypical? The curly man knew that if anyone had told him that he would think like that a year ago he would have told them they were crazy. How could anyone be fine with eating human? Apparently being friend with a cannibal for months and getting to understand and know him more than anyone in your life did that to you.

He couldn’t help feeling annoyed at the wife for throwing up and the cook for being so angry. When the man said that he knew “something did not taste right” with the meal he actually clenched his fist. Hannibal Lecter was the best cook he had ever met and the fact that he used people for the meat did not change that. His meals were always delicious and it was an honor to be able to eat them. It was a privilege to have him cook for you. He would have bet anything it had tasted amazing contrary to what the cook was saying.

It had even probably been better than anything he had ever cooked himself. Ungrateful idiots. He knew he was being unfair with them, but Will missed Hannibal cooking and he would have given a lot to have been in their place.

His thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone vibrating on the nightstand. The last time he had received a call had been in America from Taylor to give him information about when they were leaving. Nobody had any reason to call him. He had no family left. All his friends were either dead, on the run or busy somewhere in America. He thought it could be Alana, but it said unknown number. Suddenly without knowing why his heart started to race in his chest. Could it be...?  
He answered the phone this instant his voice breaking at the “Yes?” he difficultly got out.

The person on the other line didn’t talk immediately. He heard them breath and then: “Will.”  
The agent thought he felt his heart stop when he heard Hannibal’s voice. There was so much emotion in this one word. Like the other man had done, he replied only with his name.   
“Hannibal”  


If he thought Hannibal sounded emotional, compared to him it was nothing. He actually sobbed a little while speaking out. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. If he had not been emotionally compromised and a good agent he might have tried to know why he had called him or even where he was. However, he was sure he knew the reasons to the first question already and that he would never get an answer to the second.   
“Have you received my gift?”  
Will smiled a little. The serial killer was like a child wanting to get complimented for his hard work.   
“Yes, you did amazing work as usual” he said laughing a little at what he was saying” and I loved the note and the flower. Especially the flower.”  
“I am glad.”   
He could hear the pleased smile in his tone.   
They were silent for a moment before Will remembered Hannibal was actually a fugitive on the run pursued by both the FBI and, even more dangerous, a rich psychopath who wanted to get revenge on him.   
“Hannibal you have to know something. Mason Verger is in Europe. He wants to get revenge for what you did to him. Margot came to tell me at the hospital.”  
It was quiet for a second like the psychiatrist was thinking about something.   
“Thank you for telling me.”  
There was so much he wanted to say, to ask, but he knew that it was not the time.   
“Just... be careful please. This time I can’t promise I will be there to help you escape.”  
The older man laughed like his concern was absurd.   
“Are you worried about me Will?

It had been so long since he had heard him laugh Will thorax felt like it was on fire.  It felt so good to hear it almost hurt.  

“Yes.”  
“I will be careful. I promise.”  
They were both quiet for a minute simply enjoying knowing that they could hear each other breathe for the first time in months. The psychiatrist was the one to break the silence.  
“Did you pay a visit to my aunt?”  
Will was not even surprised that he knew somehow.  
“Yes. She was great. She reminded me a lot of you.”  
“Is that so?”  
“Yes. And we had a... very interesting conversation.”  
“One day I will ask you to tell me about it” He answered with smile in his voice.  
“I have no doubt about it.”

He wasn’t sure if he was ever going to see Hannibal again, but he hoped. He wanted to more than anything in the world. He added, wanting to say it absolutely before the call ended:

“I have forgiven you.”  
The European was silence.  
“I just wanted to tell you since you asked. The flower. You didn’t choose it at random. You never do anything at random. ”  
“You are right... I am sorry I have hurt you. Thank you for forgiving me.”   
“No matter how much I wish I could hate you I just can’t. I can’t even stay angry at you. I understand you too much for that. It probably means I am even crazier than I thought I was“  
“I assure you, you are as sane as I am.”  
Will smiled, amused. Feeling brave, he teased the man a little bit.   
“Is that supposed to reassure me?”  
 In a fake serious tone full of warning Hannibal asked him “Are you suggesting that I am insane?”   
The younger man couldn’t contain the laughter erupting from his chest. He could have sworn the doctor was smiling at this moment. Finally calming down he said: “I don’t think you are insane Hannibal.”  
“Neither do I. I am a psychiatrist after all. I would know.” He added in a teasing tone.   
Will laughed a bit at that, but then he heard footstep in the corridor and stopped neat.   
“What is it Will?”  
“I heard someone.”  
“I should hang up. If your friends were to learn you talked to me you would be in trouble.”  
“They’re not my friends, but you’re right. I would be in trouble” he sighed resigned. He felt so happy talking to Hannibal again. He could have talk to him all night and still not be satisfied.   
“Don’t worry. We will speak again.”    
“If you say so. Be careful out there.”   
“Always”  
There was moment were neither of them said anything more, but didn’t hang up not wanting the moment to be over yet.   
“Hannibal...”  
“Yes?”  
There was a thousands of words stuck in his throat. I love you. I miss you. I can’t wait to see you again. But in the end all he was able to say was:  
“It was nice talking to you.”  
“It was really nice for me too. Good night Will.”  
“Good night”  
And then it was over.

Will hadn’t felt this happy and at peace in months. For a couple of minutes he had felt whole again. He knew the feeling would leave him soon and at some point and he would feel that hole in his chest again, but for now he felt good and he wanted to enjoy it. He didn’t care how wrong it was or what he was going to do. All he cared about was that Hannibal had called him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, this chapter is sappy. lol For the people actually reading this story and wanting to know there should be 3 more chapters. Maybe four. I will try to post them as quickly as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

They had only been in Ireland for five hours before Will could tell for sure coming there had been a waste of their time. At least if they had come hoping to get hints of where to find the fugitive. The morning after his talk with Hannibal, Peter Taylor had gotten a call from the FBI saying that Bedelia Du Maurier had surrendered herself to the Ireland authorities. They had all been surprised to hear the woman was alive and well. Apparently the killer had let her go in Lithuania with clear instruction to only go to the police a week later. She had respected his demand as much because of fear as gratitude for having treated her well and not killed her when he didn’t need for her anymore.

Hannibal not killing her puzzled Will as much as it made him love the man even more. He may be a cannibalistic serial killer, but nobody could deny he could act human when he wanted to. He was not only a monster no matter how much people who didn’t understand him wanted to believe it.

Once there he had been able to talk to the psychiatrist alone since he already knew her a little bit. More than anyone else present at least. Taylor thought he would maybe be able to get something more out of her because of that. He looked at him with the warning he had gave him the day before in his eyes, while sending him to the interrogation room, but still he trusted him enough to let him do it.  Of course they were being filmed, but there was actually no sound coming with the image so they were relatively free to talk honestly.

Thank god for old police station that were not up to date technology wise, thought the FBI agent sitting in front of the blonde woman. Her pale skin was more tanned than he remembered and her hair cut a little bit shorter. She also seemed to have lost some weight, but maybe it was just the clothes she was wearing.

“I hear you have been travelling.”  
Bedelia smiled.  
“Just as you have been if I’m not wrong.”  
“Well, I didn’t really have a choice.”  
“Me neither.”  
It was Will turn to smile. He had not really cared when he had thought her dead, but he was still glad she was alive. She was one of the rare person left with whom he shared some kind of connection. All they had in common was pretty much their relationship with Hannibal, but considering who the man was it was already a lot.

“They told me you were treated very well.”  
“Hannibal treated me as well as if I had been a volunteer companion of travel if you forget the part where he was the one who decided if I was able to go out or not and when. Still, I believe I was really lucky. Things could have been a lot worse.”

“You never thought about asking for help?”  
“Even when I had the possibility I knew this time he would find me again no matter if he got arrested or not. Hannibal doesn’t like betrayal. You saw that for yourself.”  
The curly man shrugged and looked annoyed that she had reminded him of that. He still felt guilty about everything that had happened and contrary to Hannibal he had not yet apologized for what he had done. He should probably rectify that the next time he talked to the man, he thought.

“Do you have any idea where he might have gone next?” he asked knowing it was what he was supposed to say. In truth he already knew she probably had no more idea than him.  
“If I had to guess I would say he is still somewhere in Europe, but I don’t know any more than you do as I suspect you already know. “  
“How was he when he came to you and the first month? How did he seem? Emotionally.”  
He was asking this for purely selfish reason. The answer would not help anyone to catch the fugitive, but he was curious. Had Hannibal been missing him as much as he did him? Had he been worried about him when he was still in the hospital? Had he acted differently than usual?

“Hannibal is very good at hiding his emotion, but the first week he seemed less patient than usual. Nothing could hold his attention for very long. He was also more often lost in thought than I remembered him to be.”  
This didn’t tell Will how he had felt, but it told him he had been feeling something at least. What had happened had affected him a lot. He at least knew that for sure now.  
On the phone he had seemed so collected and calm he had doubted the man felt for him as he did, but he should have guessed it was only a way to protect himself. He wasn’t 100% sure of Will yet and with reason considering what had happened between them. Hannibal always tried to seem calm and collected no matter if he felt like it or was actually submerged by strong waves of emotions.

“He seemed better once we went to stay with his aunt, Lady Murasaki. Have you met her yet?”  
“Yes. How did they act together? Did they look very close?”  
“I have never seen him so close to another human being. Except you, of course.”  
The agent could have guessed as much, but he had wanted to hear the woman point of view about the killer relationship with his aunt. As for the second part he ignored it awkwardly.  
“She said you seemed tense when we talked to her. That you tried to hide it the best you could, but you were always on your guard.”  
“I knew my utility would soon come to an end and I had never known Hannibal to be merciful before. In other words, I was expecting my life to end very soon.”

“What do you think made him change his mind about killing you?”  
“I think he realized while planning to kill me that he was tired of hurting the people he liked. The list of people Hannibal Lecter respect and appreciate is a very short one and lately he had had to kill or almost kill (she looked at his stomach for a second) too many of these people for his taste.”

It made sense. Even if he was capable of killing his friends in a heartbeat supposing the situation required it, it didn’t mean he particularly enjoyed it. He enjoyed killing the rude because he thought those people deserved their fate. They were merely pigs to him. Alana, Jack, Abigail, Bedelia and himself were not of this category. As his proposal to run away leaving everyone unhurt, on their last supper, had shown he didn’t like spilling blood if it could be avoided.

He nodded lost in his thought.

“I told him I would give you his regards before leaving him if he didn’t talk to you first. Have you been in contact with him?”  
He looked at her, face blank.  
“Even if it was the case I couldn’t tell you. You know that.”  
The woman looked briefly at the camera before smirking.  
“You did talk to him, did you?”  
It was not really a question. She had guessed anyway and she didn’t expect an answer.

“Your relationships have always been a unique one. The most surprising part is that even after all that happened you still have feelings for him somehow. I wasn’t sure it would be the case. To be honest I had not considered he might be missing you until the day Miss Lounds published that article with the picture of you in that hospital bed. He became obsess with it. One day, I asked him if he missed you.”  
Swallowing loudly, Will looked at her expectantly.  
“And?”  
“He didn’t deny it which surprised me even more.”  
She looked at him like he was some kind of complicated puzzle she was trying to solve. What did this man have that made Hannibal become so human when it came to him? At the beginning, she had thought he had only been another game for the cannibal. A temporary obsession, but it had soon become obvious it was a lot more than that. This man with big blue puppy eyes, a beard of three days and who was the opposite of everything Dr Lecter was, had somehow made the psychopath fall for him.

And even more surprising the young man returned his feeling even after all that he had done to him. It was fascinating.

“Thank you for telling me this.” Will had said. There was nothing else he wanted to know so he didn’t pretend there was and got up to leave.

“I assume you will make sure I don’t have to worry about Hannibal coming for me so it is the least I could do.”  
He didn’t answer this not knowing exactly how she supposed he was gonna do this.  
“You should not be accused of anything considering you were forced to go with him. You will be sent back to America in the next days or so. You deal with the procurer is still valid from what I heard. Good luck.”  
“You will need it more than I do.”  
He couldn’t deny that.

While he had learn a great deal during their conversation it was only useful to him and Taylor and Kim Douglas were of the opinion that they could have learned all of this by phone from where they were.

He didn’t tell them everything she had said to him obviously. Like he had skipped a big part of his conversation with Lady Murasaki. With Mason Verger and the call he had decided he would keep to himself it was starting to be a lot to be hiding from the FBI. The older agent would probably have skinned him alive if he knew he had talked to Hannibal and kept it to himself. Or at least cancel their deal and still send him to prison after using him as bait to catch their man. At the same time how would telling him help them in any way?  The killer had not told him anything about his location or where he could possibly go next.

Sitting in a very uncomfortable chair while drinking very bad coffee at the police station, Will though his situation was getting more and more complicated and his loyalty to the FBI very dubious. His cell phone ringing again for the second time in 24 hours made him almost spill his drink. It couldn’t be Hannibal again. Not so soon. If it was him however he didn’t know what he was going to do considering where he was. It was an unknown number again.  
“Hello?”  
“Will, it’s Margot Verger.”  
He felt his heart calm down a bit.  
“Margot! It’s nice to hear from you, but knowing you, you’re not calling only to ask me how I have been.”  
“It’s my brother. He went to Italy. In Florence. I think he found him. ”  
“Couldn’t he just been staying there for another reason?”  
“My brother hates Florence.”  
Will thought went blank for a moment. For the first time in months he knew where Hannibal was at this moment, but Mason Verger also knew and he had a considerable advance on him.

 

“Thank you! I’m going there as fast I can.” He said getting up already ready to go talk to Taylor.  
“Will, you might not be the one he wants the most, but if he finds you he is not gonna be kind to you.”  
“I will be careful. Thank you again.”

On that he ended the call and almost ran to his superior. He didn’t care what he would have to say. All he knew was that he had to get to Florence. Hannibal was alone against a billionaire who could employ a hundred men just to search for him if he wanted. He didn’t underestimate his ability to defend himself, but the man was not super human.  

“Peter!” he said interrupting him in a phone conversation with his superior probably.  
He made a sign to him to go away, but Will didn’t care.  
“It’s important! I know where Hannibal is and we have to go there now!”  
The older man hanged up a second later his eyes full of questions.  
“Where?”  
“Florence, Italy. I will tell you how I know it as soon as we have time I swear, but for now we have to get Kim and leave as soon as possible.”  
Taylor didn’t argue and went directly see a detective asking him to get them 3 tickets for Florence, Italy leaving as soon as humanly possible.  
“We have to get there as soon as possible! We will take anything.”  
The agent nodded sensing the situation was urgent and picked up his phone immediately.  
“I will call my superior to let them know. Kim is out to get us something to eat. Call her and tell her to be back as soon as possible. We’re leaving for the airport in 30 minutes. Once we’re there I expect you to explain me everything.”  
The younger agent nodded and went sitting with the detective in charge of getting them the tickets. He waited a bit hearing him talk with a woman insisting it was urgent. That it was to catch an internationally researched criminal and they would take anything. It seemed to work.  
“They have a flight for England, where you would take a plane directly to Florence, leaving in two hours with three seats, but all separated from each other. Is it ok?”  
“Yes. How long will we have to wait in England before leaving for Florence?”  
“An hour, but you will not be sitted together again since it’s very at the last minute. Usually you wouldn’t even be able to still buy tickets.”  
“Thank you. It’s perfect.”

 

 

 

In the plane to Florence, Kim told Will for the tenth times he should eat something. She had brought him something back when she had come back to the police station, but he had been too anxious to eat anything and the hour they had waited in Ireland and in England he had refused anything she would propose him. She was determined; he had to give her that.  
“Listen I don’t care if you are hungry or not. You are gonna eat something because if you don’t you will faint when we arrive in Florence and then we will have to leave you there and go save Lecter on our own. You don’t want that do you?”  
Will laughed and she gave him a triumphing smile.  
Five minute later he was eating some chicken while Kim finally closed her eyes relaxing a little bit for the first time since getting on the plane.

Taylor was up in first class while they were seated together in second. They hadn’t chosen the seats or to be separated from their boss, but the agent was grateful for it still. In Ireland, waiting for their first plane he had had to explain how he knew Hannibal might be in Florence while Peter looked at him with hard eyes. He had given him the short version that did not implicate him or Margot and lied about when he had learned Mason was after the killer. Kim had defended him when their superior had told him it might have been a false alarm and Verger was only in Florence to do some business deal or any other reason that did not have any link with the researched man.  
“It’s still the best lead we got since we left for Europe” she had said.

When Taylor had gone to call some people to let them know about Mason she had squeezed his shoulder in support and told him he had done good.  He had not told her that he was not only scared of Hannibal dying by the hand of the rich psychopath. He was terrified that because of him telling them where he was they would succeed in arresting him. Of course he would prefer the man alive and in prison than dead, but that didn’t mean he liked the idea.

It didn’t matter that he had realized he was in love with him; he knew he was not ready to run away from everything and join him yet. However, he didn’t want him to get captured either so he would have to try and somehow keep him safe from Mason while keeping him from getting taken by the FBI without them noticing. Well, that should be an interesting challenge, he thought while trying to eat his meal and feeling his stomach protest.

 

Ten minutes after getting to Florence before they even had the time to go meet up with the local authorities Taylor got a call saying an agent would come pick them up and bring them at a crime scene. Someone had just dropped the body of a museum owner in the public place in front of it. Knowing Lecter was in the city, they had been looking at old crime scene photo of the Chesapeake Ripper earlier, so when they had seen the body they had immediately recognized his work. They had made a perimeter around the body, but the crowd was not leaving.

“It seems you were right. Lecter is in the city” said Taylor after hanging up. “And he left us another body.”

 

***

It was the end of the afternoon and the public place in front of the museum was still full of tourist. The fountain in the middle was half covered with people looking horrified, but still trying to get a better look on the corpse the cops were desperately trying to hide. Normally, he would not have stayed to watch, but this time the way he had placed the victim had required for him to be there. He had thrown the man from the balcony of his office on the third floor of the museum, with a hook put in in his neck linked to a cord attached to the balcony.

He had burned his eyes out with a flame gun, shaved his head, undressed him and opened his stomach with two big cuts forming an X before throwing him so his internal organs would fall to the ground. He could have left after that, but seeing the people reaction had been quite amusing and he was already there so why not enjoy the show? From the beginning of a side little back alley that lead to the public place he had watched the cops cut the rope and try to establish a perimeter.

He was about ready to leave when he saw another police car arrive with people obviously not being local cops inside of it. He couldn’t see very well from where he was, but there was a woman and two men with the Italian cop driving. When the vehicle stopped and they got out Hannibal had the surprise of his life. For a second, he thought maybe he was hallucinating. He could not be seeing right. Will Graham was there, seeming like he had not had a proper night of sleep in days, had stopped caring altogether about his appearance (even less than before) and looking very tense. If the man was to have hallucinations of Will he would have been a lot different and probably a lot healthier looking so it was safe to assume that he was really there.

How? He had dropped the body barely an hour ago. It could not be that. Maybe the men who had followed him the other day were indeed Mason’s men and he had called the authorities in the hope that Will would come and he would be able to use him against Hannibal. Or someone in the city had simply spotted him and called the police. The reason didn’t matter, he told himself. The important thing was that the man he loved and had been missing like hell for the last months was there in front of him.

He had to talk to him. Let him know he was close and they could see each other if he wanted to, if he was ready for it. Without thinking about it he took the disposable cell phone he had gotten from his old friend when he went to see him for his house the day before, and composed the number he knew by heart, praying he had his portable on him.

He saw Will freeze for a second before excusing himself from an older man who was probably his superior. The young woman who was examining the body by now looked at him suspiciously before returning to her work.

As close to the masses of people as he could be and as far from the cops as possible the empath answered the phone.

“Hello?”  
The fugitive smiled, happy to be able to see the other man face while hearing his voice this time, even if it was from at least 30 meters and there was a crowd of people between them.

“Hello Will. I believe you just arrived to see my last work.”

He saw him looking around the place and stepped back in the alley a bit more so he could not be seen.

“Are you close? You shouldn’t stay here if you are. It’s not safe.”

“I am not afraid of the cops or the FBI.”

“I know you’re not. That’s why I will have to be for you this time. Go. Hide. I don’t care where, just do it. Mason knows you’re here. He is in Florence at the moment. That’s why we came here in the first place and now the cops and the FBI knows too. I won’t be able to protect you from all of them.”

Will did not want him to get arrested. He knew he did not want him to die and had his suspicions the man was not sure if he really wanted to catch him or not, but he would not have guessed that. The agent definitively, without a doubt, did not want him to go to prison anymore. Hannibal’s heart grew two sizes in his chest. How was he supposed to be able to leave him now that he knew this? Will was right however and he had to think pragmatically.

“I will go and hide somewhere safe, but I am not leaving the country. When things calm down and you are ready to find me go seek a man named Bertando Gallo. He is a business man. He will tell you where to find me.”

In barely a whisper he heard “Hannibal.... I....” and he only had the time to think that Will was not yet ready to come and join him before he felt someone come behind him.

 

Dropping the phone as fast as he could without breaking it he squatted avoiding a punch before turning back and hitting the man with his leg, making him loose his footing. He then got the knife he had in his pocket and made a deep cut on the Italian leg, making him scream in pain and fall to the ground. The other male had gotten a gun out and pointed it at him, but it was obvious he was not gonna use it and risk attracting the cops.

With this conviction Hannibal ran toward him and tackled him to the ground making him loose his fire arm. With both hand he took the man head in his hands and hit it against the ground.

They were now a lot further in the back alley than Hannibal had been earlier and safe from view. From the phone in the ground he could hear Will saying his name louder and louder, clearly starting to panic, all discretion forgotten. From all the voices behind him getting stronger he could guess the agent was getting closer to the crowd probably trying to search for him.

The man under him, dizzy and hurting tried to get hold of his neck, but the doctor took hold of his arm and twisted it in a way that made a bone crack. The one bleeding heavily from his thigh was already on his feet again, a knife in hand, so he sliced the man under him throat and got up to kick the other one in the chest. He was thrown against the wall and Hannibal went for his armed hand this time, kicking the blade out of reach before going for his throat with his own knife. Faster than he had expected, the man moved out of his way and ran for his weapon on the ground. Jumping on him from the back he encircled his neck with his arm putting all his strength in keeping him from making another step. Slowly the man started to stop fighting his hold, oxygen not getting to his brain anymore.

Letting him fall unconscious to the ground the killer went straight to his phone where Will was now begging him to tell him where he was so he could come and help him. He had probably heard the fight going on. Out of breath and a bit proud of himself he said:  
“I’m all right dear Will. You can calm down now.”

He almost shouted his name, relief very strong in his voice.

“Hannibal! What happened? Are you ok?”

“Two men send by Verger to capture me if I’m not wrong. I took care of th...”

He was cut mid sentence by something hard hitting his head and making him drop the phone again while he fell to the ground seeing stars. He should have made sure the man was truly unconscious before reassuring Will. He had let sentimentality make him stupid again.

 

Since the only hard object near them had been the gun on the ground it was safe to assume it was what he had been hit with. Clearly Mason’s man was trying to not hurt him too much. He had order not to kill him or injure him severely and that gave him the advantage. An advantage he would have loved to use if his head had not made him so dizzy he could barely stand on his knees. He tried to pick the knife he had put back in his pocket to cut the man to the leg again, but he dodged him this time expecting it.

Further down the other side of the alley a new man arrived clearly checking if his partners were all right. Well one was bleeding out on the ground, but the other one while wounded seemed to hold on and Hannibal wasn’t sure he would be able to fight him and the new one arriving off.

On the phone he heard Will panic again, screaming at him to tell him where he was while a feminine voice in the background repeated his name obviously trying to calm him down. The man heard it too and before he went to crush the portable with his foot Hannibal said as loud as he could “Back alley behind the restaurant” hoping the agent would get there soon because this time a little help would probably be necessary.

***

Looking around while running in the crowd of tourist and local followed by Kim, Will searched for a restaurant with an alley beside it. He found one at the other side of the place. The alley was hidden behind the terrace of the restaurant, but it was clearly there. He didn’t tell the young woman where he was going, knowing she would follow him.

She had found the way he had acted when taking the call very strange and when she had looked back a minute later to see him in complete panic and looking everywhere around him she had went straight to him having to know what it was about. When she had heard the agent almost scream “Hannibal!” in his phone she had understood a part of it. Taylor being busy with the local head detective preparing a search of the area had not remarked anything.

“What’s happening Will? Did he call you? Where is he?”  
In an angry and impatient tone he had answered “I don’t know where he is. That’s what I’m trying to know.”  
Not put out the in the least by his tone she had asked very calmly: “Ok, I get that, but why are you panicking like that?”  
Sounding more desperate than angry this time he had said: “I heard fighting. I think it’s Verger’s men. They got to him.”

 

She had proposed they go and ask the cop if they could triangulate the call, but he had said it would take too much time and she knew he was right. Then Hannibal had come back to the phone seeming ok for a couple of seconds before Will had started panicking again after he was cut mid sentence. He had run past the crime scene perimeter and Kim had followed him without thinking of going to tell someone what was happening. She didn’t want to lose sight of him. Finally, the fugitive must have given Will some sort of clue for his emplacement because he started looking around like he knew what he was searching for this time.

Will got his gun out before even being in front of the alley, ready to shoot anyone in sight. When arriving in the back lane he saw a couple of meters in front him Hannibal trying to get up holding a knife while a man pointed a gun at him telling him not to be stupid. On the floor there was a man with a sliced throat and another one was coming behind them looking ready to act the second the killer tried something.

Without thinking and reacting more by instinct than anything else Will shot the closer armed man in the chest and then in the shoulder making him drop his weapon. Kim got out her own firearm and pointed it at the other man. “FBI. Freeze!”  
 It was pretty obvious the woman was not going to shoot him even if he ran and the curly man seemed to not give a damn about him so he ran away.

After being sure the other man would not come back Will lowered his weapon and ran straight to the psychiatrist. Putting his back to the wall Hannibal let himself slide to the ground looking relieved. Will hands were on him in a instant, one cupping his face gently and the other touching him gently everywhere to see if he was alright.  
“Are you ok? Did they hurt you?”  
“I am as fine as can be.” he said with a small tired smile looking the agent in the eyes for the first time in months. God he had missed those dark eyes.

Will looked at the man face longer than he probably should have before remembering he was not alone with him. The blonde agent was still there taking one of Mason’s men vitals.  
“Kim go get Taylor and get an ambulance here. I’ve got him.”  
“But...”  
“If we wait any longer he is gonna die and we need to interrogate him.” He added in referring to the man on the ground in a very authoritative tone. In reality, none of the two men would survive even if an ambulance arrived at this instant, but Kim didn’t seem to realize that.

 “Ok I will be back as soon as I can.”  
And she left running. They had been screams coming from the public place after the shooting, but due to the echo of the wall it was pretty much impossible to know where the noise had come from. The cops were probably already searching for the origin of the sound and it would not be long before they found it with Kim help.

Sitting on his heels before him, Will hand still touching him on the shoulder, Hannibal asked: “Are you gonna arrest me Will?”  
Biting his lips the agent looked to his chest avoiding his eyes an instant.  
“I realized the other day you apologized to me, but I never did to you.”  
Looking him in the eyes again he continued:  
 “I am sorry for lying to you and trying to take your freedom for you. I did change my mind and try to help you escape in the end by calling you, but it doesn’t change the fact that I betrayed your trust. I didn’t know what I wanted.”

“I understand why you felt you had to do what you did.”

He hadn’t expected the man to understand, but apparently the last months had made him realize some things about Will character and why his plan to turn him to his side had failed back then.  Talking a good look at Hannibal he found himself thinking that the man was even more beautiful dressed so casual with his hair disheveled from the fight. His heart started to beat a bit faster as the killer looked at him with intensity, his eyes full of interrogations. He answered the question he could at the moment.

“I can’t tell you that I know what I want yet, but I know what I do not want. And I do not want you to get arrested. Get up!”  
Standing up he gave his hand to Hannibal helping him to get up. The Lithuanian groined, in pain, but still stand up firmly on his feet. He had to let go of the man hand far too soon for his taste, but the situation was urgent. He took his gun out offering it to Hannibal who understood what he needed him to do.  
“Don’t hit me too strongly, ok? I hate having headache.”  
 The killer gave him a half-smile, but his eyes were betraying his emotions. Leaving Will, so soon after seeing him again was breaking his heart. He caressed his cheek gently and the younger man stopped breathing.

Behind them they heard the sound of people coming.  
“You have to go now!” the agent said urgently.  
Hannibal nodded, looking at him in the eyes, and hit him on the head with the gun.

Will did not completely lose consciousness. On the ground he saw Hannibal ran faster than he had ever thought him capable of and he heard Taylor screaming his name a couple of seconds only after losing sight of the fugitive.

He closed his eyes letting himself fall into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't usually ask for comments, but I am nervous about this chapter so please reassure me. It's not too bad right ?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a little longer than expected. I had to cut a chapter in two so not that much happen in this one. I swear there is a lot more happening in the next one.

When he woke up at the hospital several hours later, it was dark outside. He was on a very uncomfortable bed, at the end of a corridor, still dressed and still wearing his shoes. It was like they had just dumped his body there waiting for him to come back to consciousness. Kim was sitting on a chair near the bed, half asleep with a coffee in her hand and a gun on her lap. He wondered a moment if he should wake her up, but before he could decide she had opened her eyes, her entire body going rigid.

“Oh, you’re awake” she had said calming down.  She gave him the gun and got up.   
“I have to go call Peter. He said to call him as soon as you woke up. Do you want anything? Coffee, tea? They are both horrible thought, I am warning you.”   
Will smiled. “Some water would be great if you don’t mind.”  
“No problem. I will be back in a sec. Oh before I forget. Keep it.” She pointed at the weapon “It’s your new firearm since you lost the other one. ” He putted it in his waist case without giving it a thought.

Will was happy to notice that his head didn’t hurt too much. Maybe they had given him something. Or maybe Hannibal had hit him at a place he knew would not hurt like hell later. He didn’t know such a place on the head existed, but if anyone would have known that it would be the ex surgeon.  

Kim had not looked at him differently than before and seemed friendly enough. She didn’t seem to suspect anything. She even gave him a gun back. She had however been watching him the whole time he was unconscious and had order to tell their boss as soon as he woke up. Taylor had probably been very angry at Will when learning what had happened. He didn’t doubt he would be questioned and watched a lot more closely from now on.

He didn’t really mind to be honest. It was worth it to save Hannibal from going to prison or even worse being killed by Mason. Seeing him again had also made him a lot happier than he probably should have felt considering the circumstance. Not because the man had stabbed him and killed two people he loved the last time they had seen each other. Because the only reason he had ended up in the same place as him was that he had killed someone else and exposed his body for the world to see.

If he didn’t have some morals left Will would have been thankful for whatever that museum owner had done to make the killer want to end his life. Well, he did have some morals left and he still felt a little bit thankful anyway, but there was no way he would admit that to himself. He was not that far gone yet.

Kim came back with a glass of water and Taylor behind her looking like he was in a very bad mood. The younger agent sat up in the bed and took the water with a small “thank you” not daring to look up.  The floor pattern suddenly seemed a lot more interesting than whatever was happening around him.

 

“So care to tell us what happened? I know about the first part. Kim filled me in. I just want to know how an unarmed man, still recovering from a fight ended up stealing your gun and hitting you with it.”  
His tone was a lot more contained than Will had expected. He could hear the anger, but the older man was very obviously keeping his emotion under control.

“I was stupid. He made himself look weaker than he was. I thought he wouldn’t even be able to run away so I went to check on the wounded man. I was trying to stop the bleeding so I left my gun close to me on the ground. The next thing I knew my gun was not there anymore and I was hit on the head. I made a mistake I admit it. I’m sorry.”

Taylor did not let his opinion show on his face. Maybe he believed the story or maybe he recognized it for the big pile of lies it really was. He couldn’t tell and that frustrated and worried him. Usually he was better at reading people.

His superior did not comment finally just nodding sharply at him.  
“Yes, you made mistakes and I would say going after Lecter on your own without telling anyone or not telling me the moment you received the call were pretty big ones. For that your cell phone has been put under surveillance and you are not to be left alone on a crime scene from now on. You will also share a room with Kim again.”  
Will did not say anything. He understood why these measures were taken and frankly he couldn’t blame Peter for not trusting him anymore. He did not like it, but he understood it.

“The next _mistake_ you make I am sending you back to America, straight to jail. Is this clear?”

The empath didn’t react well to threat no matter the circumstance so he had to work very hard to say “Clear” without too much aggressiveness in his voice. He would not go back to prison no matter what happened that he was sure of. He would not let the FBI ruin his life once again. The funny thing was that if the people at the FBI had believed him the first time he had been imprisoned or later had not abandoned him and Jack at the last minute he might have been on their side in the end. He would not have loved sending Hannibal to prison, but he would have done it. Now however, after the FBI betraying him again, threatening to incarcerate him, and at the same time giving him the opportunity to see the killer again and fall even more in love with him, by learning more about his life or how he loved him, they were simply stupid to assume he would be on their side in the first place.

“We tried to run after him after getting in the alley, but we lost him. Every cop in the city is looking for him. If he hasn’t left yet, and I don’t think he had the opportunity, we will find him.”

Even knowing Hannibal would not leave the country Will had doubts about them finding him. He didn’t mention it thought. He was surer than ever he didn’t want them to catch the fugitive and he would not help them do it in any way. That meant keeping for him everything Hannibal had told him over the phone that could help them find him.

He was not decided on whether to join the killer or not yet, like he had proposed to him, but even if he had wanted to he would not have been able to. He would be watched too closely from now on. At least that would give him some times to think about the offer. Going away from everyone and everything he knew with Hannibal...Starting a new life with the man he was in love with... That seemed like a better idea every minute that passed.   

***

 

Mason Verger had expected abducting Hannibal Lecter to be hard, but he had not expected it to be that hard. Learning that two of his men had gotten killed the day before had not bothered him much, but what had made him react however had been to learn from the surviving one that FBI agents had been the one to rescue the psychiatrist. If it had not been for them they would have gotten him.

The FBI being there in itself was pretty annoying, but what had made him tick had been to hear that one of the agents had been the one to kill his man. Now, he did not know the procedures and code the Americans agents had to go by, but he was sure enough killing someone they could have easily only need to wound to stop was something that they did not do.

“What did this man look like?” he had asked in his noisy annoying voice to the man standing in front of him.   
“Big blue eyes, curly brown hair, average high, pretty thin.”  
Mason had laughed hysterically from anger hearing this, scaring the man in front of him a little bit. Will Graham was here. He had heard he was looking after Lecter with the FBI, somewhere in Europe, but he had not thought he would actually get that close.

The FBI was a bunch of idiots and the chance of them finding the fugitive before him had not even crossed his mind before this moment. He had underestimated Graham. Again. He really should stop making that mistake. He was getting bored of it already. 

Those big puppy eyes had fooled him once and he had ended up in an electric wheelchair completely disfigured. Most of it had been the psychiatrist, he remembered enough of the event to know that, but Will had been the one to free Lecter and put him in his hands in the first place.

He had entertained the thought of getting revenge on him too at the beginning, thinking it would make the doctor furious. Quite a nice bonus really.  He had however changed his mind after the events of Lecter almost killing Graham. The curly man had paid and clearly the serial killer didn’t care that much about him if he was capable of cutting him open like that.

He realized thinking this had been a mistake. These two men relationship was a lot more complicated that he had originally believed. Apparently trying to kill each other was nothing more than a little couple fight for them. Graham still cared enough about the murderer to kill for him and let him escape after it. He had heard of that too. The cops were still going crazy in the city, searching everywhere for the fugitive. It was obvious he had escaped even if a little strange, considering he had been alone and weak from fighting, against two armed FBI agents. It didn’t take a genius to realize that Graham must have helped him escape somehow.

In the paper this morning he had seen what the agent claimed had happened. Apparently the woman had gone away to search for help, following Will instructions no doubts, and Lecter had took advantage of him trying to save one of his men life. He had stolen his gun and hit him on the head. At least that was what the journalist had heard from every cop. The psychiatrist could have easily killed his old patient if he had wanted to in that moment, but he had not. He could have wounded him severely leaving him paralyzed or nearly dying again, but he had not. He could have even picked up his knife to kill him more discreetly if the firearm was the problem. He didn’t do any of these things.

He had just knocked him out. It was very unlike him and very telling of his feelings. He still cared about the man. No matter the reason he had stabbed him months before, he had forgiven him and they were back to being whatever the hell they were.

With everyone searching for him the fugitive was in hiding and probably not planning to come out before things had calmed down. Mason however, was not a very patient man and he did not want to risk losing his trace completely again. If he couldn’t get to Hannibal Lecter, he would make him come to him and for that he would only need one thing. One frail FBI agent to be more precise.

***

 

It had only been three days since he had seen Hannibal again and help him escape, but Will felt like it had been weeks. Those three days had been pure torture for him. At first they had gone to examine the crime scene again and the empath had observed it for real this time. He had guessed the victim had committed some kind of crime against art in the killer’s eyes. Anybody could have guessed that really. When he had learnt the history of the museum he had understood exactly why him and what he had done to end up like this.

He didn’t think the museum had deserved to die, but nonetheless he didn’t really care about him dying. Just like the house owner in Lithuania. He understood why Hannibal did it and he had to give it to him he always made quite a beautiful scene with their body afterwards. Well... beautiful for them at least. He wasn’t as far gone as to think everyone could see the beauty in the cannibal work.

After that they had retraced Hannibal steps in the city the best they could, interrogating countless people. Will had stayed out of the interrogating not speaking Italian and just not liking to socialize anyway. He was constantly watched. If it was not Taylor it was Kim trying to be subtle, but failing miserably. The only time he was left alone was in the toilet and the shower and even there he was pretty sure it was only because they didn’t really have a choice. He was not technically a suspect or accused of anything so they had to give him his privacy.

This morning they had gone to see Mason at his house in the city. Will had thought he looked well enough for a man who had cut his face off and could barely move anymore. He had had to bite his lips to keep himself from grinning at first seeing him like this, but soon his mood had gotten darker. The rich man had looked at him with something in his eyes he did not like.

They had asked him about his history with Dr Lecter and the reason for his presence in the country. He had said the same thing he had said to Jack and lied about considering doing business in Europe and being there to meet people that could help him with that.   
They knew that he was lying obviously, but they couldn’t prove it or do anything about it.

Will had to admit he was a bit thankful at Mason for not telling anyone his real history with the psychiatrist. If he had done so the agent would have been in much more trouble than he already was. He felt guilty about that for a moment, in his bed that night while looking at the ceiling. After all the only reason the psychopath was not telling what had happened was to get revenge himself. The feeling went away quickly when he realized Hannibal would have not minded at all.

Trying to kill each other was almost foreplay for them so the killer wouldn’t mind Mason Verger being after him if that meant that his friend was in less trouble. And really... of all the things to feel guilty about...

It was pathetic and he called himself the worse names for it, but seeing Hannibal again had made him miss him even more. It was like he had realized, or remembered, in those two minutes spend with the man, how everything was better with him. How life was more exciting and interesting. How everyone else was boring, rude or stupid. He dreamed of him every night still, but the last two nights the dreams had been... different than usual. Kissing the European on a bed, while rubbing his erect member against him had certainly not been a recurrent dream of his before. He was glad he always woke when they were still making out and had not started doing anything more.

It was awkward enough having those dreams while he shared his room with the young woman. He did not want for her to hear him moan in his sleep. The one time he had woke up with an erection not going away like usual he had almost run to the bathroom to take care of it as fast and quietly as possible. Even while masturbating he did not want to let himself think of having sex with Hannibal like that would somehow be crossing a line he wasn’t ready to. He thought of the man lips, of his voice, of his body, but never fantasized about actually doing anything with him.

He could not deny he had thought about what kissing the psychiatrist would be like in the past. Before knowing who he really was and after. However, he had always tried to ignore those thought being sure the man would never return his feelings at first and then because, well, he was trying to put him in prison.

He didn’t like having those dreams. He couldn’t deny they were agreeable. More than his usual one. Nonetheless, there was still a chance Hannibal would get killed, arrested or just vanish and he would never see him again. All of those options made entertaining the possibility of more than friendship with the man dangerous. It would only be harder to forget him in the end if he didn’t chose to go with him or something bad happened.  

It was one thing to admit to himself that he was in love with the man. It was another to think his feeling could actually lead to something.

He was interrupted in his train of thought by Kim asking him something.   
“How are you feeling, Will?”  
Surprised to be asked this out of the blue he got up on his elbow and looked at her.  
“Why are you asking?”  
“A lot happened recently and you seemed more silent than usual these last days. More in your head. I was just wondering if you were ok.”  
“I am fine. Don’t worry about me.”  
He thought she would stop there in her attempt at a conversation, but she didn’t.

“You know it’s ok if seeing Lecter again has affected you a bit. A lot happened between you two. It made you make mistakes when you saw him again. It’s ok. Now, that you have gone through it next time it will be easier.”  
“Next time?” was all he dared to ask.

“Yes, next time we find him. Better us than Verger. I think you would agree with that.”

He got himself in a sited position on the bed.   
“I know that you don’t want him to die. Probably a lot less than the rest of us.”  
He couldn’t deny that with the way he had panicked in front of her when he thought Mason’s men had gotten him. He just didn’t understand where she was going with this.

“You do want him to get arrested though? You understand we have to put him behind bars?”  
Ah, that’s where she was going.   
“Of course I understand he has to face justice. I tried to arrest him myself, remember. That got me a nice big scar.”  
It was a lot easier to lie to her than it was to Taylor or anyone else for that matter. Even if technically he had not really lied. He understood why they wanted him to go to prison. That didn’t mean that he didn’t have his personal reason for not wanting it to happen.   
“Yeah, sorry. I know you understand. It’s just that with what happened anybody could have had doubts. No offence.”

“None taken” he said in a very bitter tone.

“It’s just that... I trusted you enough to leave you alone with him and Peter was really angry at me too after what happened. ”  
“He overpowered me. I did not let him escape on purpose.” He repeated for maybe the twentieth times in three days.   
“I know. I believe you. I probably shouldn’t have left you alone with him in the first place. I made mistakes too.”

He didn’t answer anything to that. He just wanted this conversation to end already.

“I’m annoying you, I know. I will let you back to your thought, but I have one last question Will. Please, I want you to be honest with me. If you were alone in front of him at the moment, would you arrest him?”

Normally, he would have said “yes” automatically, but here alone in the room with her, when he had been thinking about the possibility of maybe someday something happening between him and Hannibal, he hesitated. There was no doubt if he was alone in a room with the man again he would not arrest him, but what would he do? Hug him? Kiss him? Tell him how he had missed him? He honestly had no idea and it crossed his mind that he probably should know in case it actually happened one day.

A couple of seconds too late he said: “Yes, I think I would. I would not love it, but I would do it.”

It seemed sincere enough to her. She didn’t love that he had hesitated and had said that he only thought he would, but it was better than a straight yes she would have had difficulty believing anyway.

“Thank you for being honest. I know all of this is very hard for you, but it will soon be over. We’re close. We will catch him and we can all go back to our life.”

Did he really want to go back to his old life? Living alone in his house with his dogs, teaching, fishing and no friends beside Alana with whom he shared a very complicated past. There was a time when that would have satisfied him. Why did this life seem so empty when he thought about it now? Why did it feel sad and depressing? He could start over somewhere else perhaps. In Florida maybe. Repair motor boat for a living. Marry a simple woman he would meet there. Have a son with her even. Yeah, it could be his life if he wanted it.

Did he want it thought? To go on while Hannibal was either in jail or god knows where in the world, and live a life entirely free of the man? The simple idea of never seeing him again made breathing difficult. Never again hear his voice. Never again see his strange beautiful face. Never again see that look in his eyes when he looked at him like he was the most extraordinary thing in the world or the way he listened to him like everything he said was fascinating. Never again see his that little smirk he made when he had done something bad and knew it, but didn’t feel an ounce of shame about it. Never again feel the way every time Hannibal touched him it felt like a caress and made his skin feel like it was on fire.

All those _never again_ that made his chest hurt. He needed a moment alone. He needed some space to think.   
“I need some air, would you mind if I went for a walk?”  
Kim looked at him, frozen.   
“I’m not sure Peter would want me to let you go alone...”  
“I’m not gonna run away. He won’t call me and even if he does every call I get is being listened to. What could I do?”   
She seemed to think for a moment.

“Ok, but bring your weapon. In case. And be back by midnight.”  
“Promise. Thank you.”

Once he was out he just went walking to random streets avoiding tourist spot the best he could. So yes, he didn’t like the idea of not seeing Hannibal again. All right, he hated the idea of him not being in his life. Period. What did that mean? Besides the obvious fact that he was crazy and in love with a serial killer. What did it mean for his future? If he could have anything, no guilt, no shame what would he really want?

The answer that came to him immediately and very easily was like a punch in the gut. He wanted to spend his life with Hannibal Lecter. He wanted to sleep with him, eat with him and do all the boring stuff with him every day. He wanted to get to know the little things about him like how he took his coffee in the morning, how long did it take him in the shower, what music did he listen to, what books had marked him or what was his favorite toy as a child. He just wanted to share his life for as long as he could really.

Would the other man want that too? He knew that he only doubted Hannibal feelings for him because of how scared he was of being disappointed. If he had been an exterior observer looking at it objectively it would have been obvious to him how his friend felt. He had asked him to run away with him multiple times for god sake. What more did he need to be sure of his feeling? The killer loved him more than he had probably loved anything or anyone since his sister. He was as in love with him as he was. Maybe more even. He showed it differently, but it was love all the same.

Will remembered the way he had touched his face in his kitchen before stabbing him, the way he had looked at him. How everything he did not say during that phone call screamed “I love you. I miss you”. How he had looked when seeing him in that back alley three days ago. His face had light up, like the time he had thought him dead after sending him to Tobias Budge, except this time his eyes had been even brighter. The pure love and happiness he felt had been written all over his face. The idea that he was the one inspiring such a sentiment in the man made his heart beat faster.

In that instant, he realized his decision was made. Next time, he would leave with Hannibal. He didn’t care about morals or doing the right thing anymore. All he wanted was to be with him and he was not gonna let the opportunity slip past him again. With the situation being what it was he knew that he would probably have to do some things he didn’t like to be able to run away with his friend... lover?(could he call him that?) But he didn’t care. He would do what he had to do to keep Hannibal safe and be able to have the life he wanted with him and god help whoever tried to stop him.  

With that in mind he started walking back to the hotel feeling lighter and more determined than ever before. Being still lost in thought he didn’t hear or worry about the van coming in the street. When a man opened it behind him and jumped on him, literally stabbing him in the neck with a needle, he didn’t have time to react or take his gun. His body gave up on him immediately, his mind still somewhat working, but not for long he was sure of that.

People were kidnapping him, probably for Mason Verger, and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t know why they were taking him exactly or why now and not two months ago, if Mason wanted revenge on him. All he knew was that he had never less wanted to die before.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was freaking hard to write and I really wanted it to be good. I hope It is.

Hannibal had been hiding in his hotel room for three days. The only time he had got out had been to acquire a computer and some reserve of food. If it had been up to him he would have gone to buy some books too, but he didn’t really have the luxury to go shop or stay out for too long. The computer was more necessary. The hotel wasn’t cheap enough to not have a wi fi connection thankfully so he was able to stay updated with the rest of the world.

He had gone from being shown vaguely in all of Europe to every city near Florence broadcasting his picture on the local news. They didn’t say a lot about him beside that he was American (which was not true technically) and a very dangerous man who had killed many people. Probably to not scare the population too much even if with one quick research anyone could find out the extent of his crimes. While in the USA the cannibalistic part of his crime had been the most talked about, here they preferred to keep it quiet. He appreciated it in a way.

He had also been in contact with his old Italian “friend” about the house and a vehicle to get out of town via an email address he had set up when he had first came to Europe. It could always be useful. Even with the cops searching for him everywhere he didn’t think they would get to the business man. The only person who could maybe find him would be Mason since he was pretty sure he had known to come to Florence because of his buying of rare furniture from the Italian man. It was not a horrible crime. Not worse than stealing piece of art really, but the piece he had bought were still not acquired or brought to him legally so he had kept it well hidden. Mason with his contact with the high criminal class would have been able to find out for how long he had been buying and from where. It was probably only a question of time before he got a name.

Still all he would get then would be an email and the address of the house and he doubted he would give any of the information to the authorities. Of course he would still have to give up his plan to go live at the house and him coming to Florence in the first place would be made useless, but he couldn’t make himself regret it. Coming in the country had allowed him to see Will again and it was worth all of the trouble.  He would have gone through far worse to see the man again hear what he had told him in that alley. No, he hadn’t said that he wanted to come with him, but he definitely didn’t want him to get arrested and had obviously come to term with accepting his feeling for him. Other than that he was confused. Or as Hannibal preferred to see it slowly realizing what he really wanted and what he was ready to do to get it.

 

The man needed time and to realize what he would lose if he chose to be the moral man he wished he was, but had never been. He had not understood that when trying to get him to run away with him the first time. He had underestimated how much Will was attached to the image he had of himself. It didn’t matter how much he loved Hannibal. In the end, what little conscience he had left would never let him leave with him. He needed to see by himself that the man he thought he was before he came into his life didn’t exist. He had never existed. He had always had darkness in him and a different way of seeing things. The psychiatrist had just helped him to see that. Losing Jack and realizing his dark self didn’t disappear simply because the psychiatrist wasn’t in his life anymore had done that.

He had apparently accepted who he was and done things he never would have done before like lying to the FBI to the point of risking jail and shooting a stranger without hesitation for him. Even if things had ended painfully and it had been horribly hard for both of them their separation had been good in a lot of ways. Losing him had made Will realize how much he loved him or in any way accept it. Like he had needed to get him nearly arrested to realize he didn’t want him to go to prison.

The fugitive didn’t have doubt that it was only a question of time at this point before the man decided to join him. How they would manage to get to each other was another question he would plan later. First, he had to get himself out of this mess he was in. He went to look at his email to see if there was any news about the car he wanted. He could have simply gone and stole one, but if he got stopped getting out of the city without the paper for it they would find it suspicious and while questioning him would eventually recognize him. If he had them they would simply take a quick look at him and with sunglass and a new haircut not identify him as the man everyone was searching for.    

When opening his inbox he saw there was a new message named “OUPS” and automatically became suspicious. Communication between him and his friend were very formal. He would have never written something like that. It turned out he had been right and the email was from Mason Verger. It took him the years of experience he had with controlling his emotions to not let fear and anger take over him completely.   
_“OUPS! It’s me again! Mason. Looks like I found your little Italian friend. Now, I could try to use this email address to find you, but then you would probably kill some of my men, again!,before they finally bring you to me. If they even succeed. These idiots... And you don’t even wanna know how much they asked to go after you, after you killed their two friends. Anyway, the point is... this time you will be the one to come to me. And unarmed please. You may ask yourself why I think you will come. The answer is simple. Will Graham. Now, I don’t know exactly what your relationship with the sperm giver is, but I am betting that you won’t want me to cut his pretty little head off. You have 24 hours. I think we understand each other.  
Oh and one last thing. The longer you wait to come, the more damaged he will be.”_

Under it, there was the address of the villa where the millionaire was staying and wanting for him to come. In case he didn’t already knew it, which he did. He had researched it the moment Will had told him about Verger being after him on the phone a couple of days ago.

The email had been sent at two in the morning. It was three and a half. It was a good thing he had not been able to sleep that night or he could have seen it only a lot later. He would have been asleep while Will was in the hands of the psychopath being done god knows what because of him. While he wasn’t happy that his friend was being put in danger because of his relationship with him he didn’t feel downright guilty. It wasn’t his fault if someone had decided to use Will to get him. The agent had also been the one to decide of Mason’s fate and he had chosen to let him live. Not that he was blaming him for this either.

While reading the email Hannibal had felt his entire body froze and his mind panic at the mention of Will. A terrifying fury he hadn’t felt in years had taken hold of him. He had transformed his rage in cold anger and determination the best he could, ignoring all other emotions he felt at the moment. Concern or fear for the man’s life would not help him to save him. Neither would uncontrolled anger. He could not be weak now. It took him five minutes to calm the beating of his heart and retake complete control of his emotions. Once it was done he started planning.

 

The house was on the other side of town, but getting there without being seen at this hour had not been too complicated. Stealing a motorbike to travel the distance either. It was not far enough to have cops roadblocks in the way so that too had been ok. He had had to make a little stop in the way to get something. Thankfully the place he had needed to go he knew very well and since the young man who sold him what he needed sold illegal weapon and explosive device he didn’t ask him to take off his helmet, assuming he probably just didn’t want to be recognized.

He had arrived at the house just past five in the morning and started to execute his plan immediately. When he was done and back inside the house he had killed 3 guards, gone on the roof and back without any sound getting to Mason. Or if he had heard him he hadn’t reacted and had chose to wait for him where he was: a room on the third and last floor, almost empty of furniture and exclusively lit up by the big windows giving to the immense yard. 

It had been easy to find out where he was in the house since it was the only place where he could hear sound coming from. The horrible sound of Mason’s voice telling the story of how he had killed Hannibal business partner and what he had planned to do to Will if the psychiatrist didn’t show up. Sometimes it was punctuated by what sounded like punch and, what he assumed was Will, swearing, laughing or moaning in pain. If he had listened to his emotions he would have run into the room the moment he had heard the sound of someone getting hit.

Hearing Will laugh darkly while he got beat up and say something that obviously made the psychopath mad enough to ask he got beaten more had reassured him however. The man was strong. He had survived him after all. He could survive Mason for ten more minutes. Especially considering the fact that if he didn’t go on the roof to do what he had planned getting his friend out of there alive would not be a guarantee.

Everything being ready he did not wait a second longer to go interrupt what was Will being held up by two man while Verger was showing him a torture device from the middle age he had bought recently. God this man loved to talk. Interrupting his monologue he came slowly walking through the grand open double door.

Now that he was in the big room he could see it did not have much furniture because all around the walls there were old torture device probably belonging in a museum somewhere. He knew most of them and what they did and got a little chill thinking of any of them being used on Will. His anger was building up again. He had to control himself.

“Dr Lecter! You are already there! I had asked my men downstairs to let me know when you got here, but I assume from the blood on you, they were not able to.”  
“No, they were not.”

They were four armed men in the rooms. Two of them were holding the prisoner up and the two others, three meters away, were close to Mason in his electric chair.   
“Put mister Graham down boys, will you? On the Guillotine there.”

Hannibal looked more closely at Will for the first time since arriving. He had been spitting blood, but his face was intact beside that. It was obvious however from the way they had to almost help him walk he had bruise all over his body. The agent had had his eyes fixated on him from the moment he had got there. His face was a mix of happiness and annoyance. He didn’t understand why the second emotion.

Tying his wrist behind his back they laid him down on his stomach on the small bench of the guillotine, his head just under the blade and a bucket below him. Probably to receive his head once it fell off of his body. Something that he would do everything in his power to stop from happening.

“We have a deal Mason...” he said in a warning tone.   
“Oh don’t worry. I don’t really intend to cut his head off. If I wanted to kill him I wouldn’t do it this way. It’s just a little assurance until I make sure you are unarmed and safely tied up.”

No matter how much he tried to focus on Mason and his four men his eyes kept going back to Will. He made ten steps into the room finally leaving the doorway and raised his arms.  
“Your men can come search me for weapons. I am yours to take. If anything happen to Will or you do not let him go however, I promise you what I did to you last time will seem like a happy memory in comparison. And this time it will not end up with you alive.”

That made the disfigured man laughs. “I am sure of it. You can be quite impressive when you want to, really. I appreciate that. In another world we could even have been friends. Now, try not to kill my men while they search you. I would hate to have to kill Graham this way.”

The hostage raised his head even more from the bench. He looked at his old psychiatrist letting the two men get close to him and then search him without moving an inch. First, he seemed surprised to not see him attack them and then he looked annoyed again.   
“Really Hannibal? The only time I want you to be selfish and kill everyone without caring for the consequences you decide to be self sacrificing?”

The serial killer felt his heart stop for a second. He could not stop the look of surprise on his face. So Will had wanted him to kill Mason and his men even if that meant his own death? He was really ready to give up his life to save him? He knew the man was in love with him, but he had never guessed that his feeling were so strong. He felt something warm invade his entire chest from the realization. He looked at him with a small smile trying to be reassuring without giving too much away.   
“Have I ever failed you before Will?”  
The agent considered him for a moment like he was searching for something in his eyes. He presumably found it because he nodded negatively to answer his question.   
“No.” Hannibal confirmed out loud, tearing himself away from his eyes. He had to focus.  
Mason had started laughing.   
“You two are the most surprising pair. I have never seen anything like it.”  
He ignored him. The two men made him remove his shoes just to be sure there was nothing in them. He didn’t complain. They had not found the scalpel in his sleeve, it was all that mattered. There was not a lot of time left now. The two men with him should be out of the way pretty soon. Will would be protected by the guillotine top and his man would hopefully be just close enough to the blast to be thrown on the ground. He checked his watch discreetly. One minute and forty five seconds left.

***

 

  
When she had woke up at four in the morning to see that Will had not come back from his walk Kim Douglas had started to worry something had happened to him. She trusted him not to run away. Not like this without any money or passport anyway. She had to give it to her superior Taylor had been right to put a tracker on the new agent gun. At the beginning he had wanted to put it on him, but he would have seen it too easily and get rid of it. Kim had been the one to suggest putting it in his firearm. Whether he ran away or something happened to him he would probably keep it on him or not lose it.

When she had gone on her computer to check where he was it had shown him at Verger house. She had recognized it immediately on the map having been there the same day. Why was he there? Had he gone to speak to him? Had the rich man took him? Why? Was he using him somehow? Or was Will there to try to use him to find Lecter? She had decided against waking up Peter for the moment. The man had barely gotten any sleep lately and if Will was there to make a deal of some sort with Mason thinking he would talk to him more openly on his own she didn’t see the need to wake up her boss.

She would go there. See what was happening and then call for help if needed. If her colleague had decided to do something stupid maybe she could even convince him to change his mind.

She could not have prepared for what she saw when she got to Mason Verger house. Arriving there she had fell on a unlock front door and two dead man in the lobby. She didn’t know why she had not called the cops immediately and only gotten her gun out. Probably because she was very confused, worried about her safety and not wanting to make any sound at the moment. She had gone up the stairs as quietly as possible following the voice she heard upstairs. She recognized Verger’s voice, but the other one was not loud enough for her to understand.

On the third floor she had walked in the corridor until it turned to the right and again to the left a bit further. Staying behind the wall the most she could she had looked at the corridor leading to the room where the sound came from. Two big doors where open to a big room where stood Hannibal Lecter getting searched by two men, Will Graham under a guillotine of some sort, a man close to him to make sure he didn’t try anything possibly and Mason Verger with the last man.

She didn’t understand everything that was happening, but she understood enough to realize she should have called for help a lot sooner and she had to intervene before Will or Lecter got killed. She got out her phone and texted Taylor to send the cops at Mason house as fast as he could. She hoped he would be awake or waken up by the text. It would have been better to call him, but if she did that now she would give up her position and the only thing she had in her favor against four armed men. Surprise. She would call him discreetly once in front of them without getting the phone out of her pocket and hope that he would understand what was happening by hearing her talk. If he didn’t at least he would be awake and see her text. She just hoped that it would not take him too long to send her help because with one against four and a fugitive to try and arrest after it was not going to be easy.

***

It could not be happening. Hannibal Lecter could not be giving himself up for him. Surely he had something plan. He didn’t seem to have any weapon on him however and was not resisting in the least to the two men searching him. Didn’t he know that Mason would never let him out alive even if he surrendered himself? And still if he did, what then? He didn’t want to live in a world where Hannibal didn’t exist anymore, that he was sure of.

The killer, him, could survive and be happy again without him. He could get rid of Mason once and for all and be safe. It was not that he wanted to die. On the contrary, he would have given anything to live if he had had the assurance his friend would survive too. However, he did not see how they could both get out of the situation alive and if he had to chose between dying and seeing Hannibal die he would chose the first option. It would be less painful anyway.  

Then out of nowhere something happened he had definitely not expected. Kim showed up pointing her gun at... everyone really.   
“FBI!  Verger Stop whatever you’re doing! The cops are on their way. Let Lecter and Graham go right now and maybe you won’t be put in jail for too long.”  
None of the man in the room seemed really afraid even if very surprised. Mason laughed of course and Hannibal looked at his watch once again. He did that a lot.

Will heard a little sound coming from her pocket and he knew that the phone was in line with someone. Probably Taylor who was trying to understand what was happening from her speech and sending help already. The thing was it would take them at least ten minutes to get all the cops they needed to come and at least five others to arrive. In fifteen minutes a lot could happen considering the situation. She should really had not gotten involved for her own sake, but it was too late now and since she could provide a distraction he would use her. He did not care if it cost her her life.   
“Kim, shoot him!” he shouted moving his head to point at the man beside him who could set off the guillotine at any moment by pulling a simple rope.    
She didn’t have time to even register what he had asked her that the killer in the middle of the room made two big steps and jumped forward toward Will confusing everyone to the reason of his action. Just when he was about to hit the ground a big explosion came from the roof breaking the ceiling and projecting cement and materiel everywhere, but mostly falling on the two men who had been searching Hannibal and Kim. Then five seconds later another blast happened, a bit closer to the hostage emplacement in the room this time, throwing everyone who was left standing up on the ground. There was piece of the roof everywhere and a lot of the torture device had flown against the wall and back in the center of the room. The piece of wood holding the axe above his head had protected him from receiving too much on him and his body had half slide to the ground in the outburst.

He got himself up on his knees as fast as he could and then tried to get up. The one who had placed the bomb was already up jumping on the man closer to Mason to cut his throat with a scalpel that had been in his sleeves all this time. Will didn’t waste too much time watching him once he was on his feet and he jumped on the man waking up beside him. With both his thigh around his neck he clenched as hard as he could while the other struggled to breathe, trying to push him away.

Further in the room a man was starting to get out from under the debris. His leg was stuck under a big piece of cement however and no matter how hard he tried he could not get it out without breaking it even more. Behind him someone, who he knew instantly to be his friend, was suddenly cutting the rope around his wrist. Once he was free Hannibal didn’t waste any time helping him more however since the one with his leg blocked had found his gun and was shooting at them already.

The psychiatrist went to hide behind what was left of the guillotine looking around him for something. Will would have gone and hide too except he had someone under him who also had a gun and if he didn’t take care of him it would become a problem too. He tried to finish strangling him using his hands this time, but the man succeeded in pushing him to the side and roll on him. By doing that he had also put himself in his place which by a stroke of luck made him receive the bullet that had been intended for Will by his colleague.

Shot in the chest he froze in pain and the empath was able to push him away. When he went crawling, avoiding the bullet flying around, to take the firearm still on his belt he noticed Hannibal was not hiding anymore, but in the middle of the room barely protected by a piece of wood and had thrown his scalped at the armed man on the ground. It wounded his hand holding the gun and made him drop his weapon for a moment.

Using the respite he finally took the gun of the man bleeding on the floor and shot him in the head. He was already mortally wounded, but he didn’t want to take any chance. Looking up he saw the serial killer had used those precious seconds well too by finally getting to the man before he could pick up his weapon again and snapping his neck.

During all of this the two armed people still remaining had been slowly waking up and getting out from under the debris of the explosion. Kim had been the one hit the most by the blast since she had been right under it but the other man who had been close to where Hannibal had stood before jumping had been less touched and had already got up and after one look around him shot directly at Will who was the only one armed and most dangerous to him at the moment. Since he had been too busy with everything he didn’t notice it time to avoid the bullet completely and felt it touch the side of his neck. It took all he had to react smartly and not just get paralyzed there in pain. He automatically tried to stop the bleeding with his hand and ran behind a big pile of debris. It would not hide him very long and if the psychiatrist didn’t do something very soon to stop the man from shooting at him he would end up with more than a superficial wound.

Mason had been awake for a good minute at this stage, but since his electric chair had fallen on the side there was not a lot he could do beside scream at his remaining employee to shoot them adding to the chaos. It was exactly what he did and they all ignored him. They did not need their boss to tell them to know that if they did not kill the two Americans they would be the ones ending up dead.  

Having picked up the gun of the man he had just killed Hannibal tried to shoot at the one who had just touched Will in the neck, but the weapon didn’t have any bullets left. He threw it away angry already picking up his scalped to throw it again when a shot came from behind the armed man. Kim had awoken and shot him in the shoulder, making him scream in pain. Not wasting a seconds he ran and at one meter away just when the Italian was regaining control of himself and pointing his weapon at him, lunched the surgery knife into his neck. He still shot away, but missed the Lithuanian by a lot.

Relieved Will started to breathe again and slowly crawled out of his hiding place. By the time he was out Hannibal had kicked the firearm away (He really hated guns) and cut the man neck in half with his scalpel. Kim had got up still pointing her gun in the general direction of the fugitive, but was looking everywhere around her taking in what had just happen. She seemed a little in shock.

Taking his breath the cannibal finally looked at Will again, a question in his eyes, and then at Mason. Understanding what he was asking, he nodded at the man he loved. Having his approval the cannibal went directly to the handicapped man on the floor who had been silent since his last guard had been killed. Without any ceremony or warning he slit his throat and didn’t move away when all the blood splashed on his shirt. Kim made a horrified noise. She was definitely a bit traumatised. So much in fact that she stood there pointing her gun at them, but not saying or doing anything really.

The last important thing done Hannibal practically ran to Will, kneeling down in front of him. He could see the worry in his eyes as he forced him to take his hand away from his wound to look at it. Touching the man again and being so close to him would have probably made him more excited had he not been hurting so much everywhere and lost half a litter of blood. Nonetheless, he was still happy to see him safe and he smiled at him the best could through the pain. The killer gave him a smile in return.  
“The wound is not too deep.”   
He then started to rip his right sleeve away and tore it in half. He placed the first half on the injury and tied the other around his neck as tight as possible without constricting his breathing. Will didn’t even need to think before he took hold of Hannibal neck, looking him in the eyes and murmuring in an urgent tone:

“We have to go now.”

The older man looked both shocked and unsure.

“Yes you heard me right. I want us to go together. I am not leaving you again.”  

Even if it seemed like a long time had passed since the explosion it had been barely four minutes in fact. Everything had happened very fast, but the cops where still on their way and they both knew this. It was why the doctor only nodded and immediately helped him get up. There would be time for everything else later.

It was this moment that Kim chose to get out of her catatonic state. Pointing her gun at them, she almost screamed:  
“Stop right there!”  
Will wondered for a moment why Hannibal had not killed her, but since she had helped them get rid of one of Mason men he had probably decided to give her a chance.   
“You’re not going anywhere until the cops are here. I will do whatever I have to do to stop you.”

The serial killer gave her a terrifying look and said in a very calm, but very menacing way: “I would advise you to drop your weapon Miss Douglas. You are still alone against the two of us...”  
“Let me deal with this Hannibal.” He interrupted. He looked at him trying to make him understand why he owed it to the young woman to try and persuade her before hurting her. The man understood enough to nod in a sign of acceptance, trusting him. Will, whom Hannibal was still holding from helping him to stand up, got away from him and made a step toward Kim.

The bruises on his chest were hurting like hell, but he ignored it.   
“Will, I don’t want to hurt you, but if I have to I will.” Warned Kim in a slightly trembling voice.   
Taking another step he said with confidence: “You won’t shoot me” and kept getting slowly closer to her.

“You’re right. I won’t shoot you, but I will shoot him if you get any closer” she answered pointing her firearm at the fugitive, suddenly a lot more confident. She knew Will too much to feel capable of hurting him, but the cannibalistic serial killer she would have no problem doing so.

The empath lost all desire he had of getting out of this without hurting her. Just when he was about to finally get everything he wanted she threatened to destroy all of it by hurting the man he loved. She could not have pushed a better button to make him do what he did next. In less than two seconds he took the gun he had stored in his belt earlier and shot her in the shoulder. She hadn’t anticipated this and reacted too late. Her comeback shot toward him left a second after she had received the bullet and she missed him.

He could have killed her, but he had decided to only wound her hoping she would understand the warning and give up. She hadn’t apparently. Without even blinking Will shot her in the head before she had time to try and hurt him again.  He watched her fall to the ground not feeling anything.

He could feel Hannibal gaze behind him. He had no doubt the killer felt more than proud of him. Putting his gun back on his belt he turned around and told in a weak, but amused voice:  
“You might have to carry me at some point during the road ‘cause I’m starting to feel a little dizzy from blood loss.”

The fabric around his neck had tuned completely red already and half of his shirt was stained in blood. Hannibal didn’t seem too worried about that. He wasn’t really either when he thought about it. The ex surgeon would take care of it. He came close to him, putting a hand around his face like he had done a long time ago in a barn and kissed his forehead.

“I will carry you as far as you need me to.” He whispered, smiling at him.

Will felt his heart grow two size and all the worries he had left went away.

 

***

 

Hannibal was sitting on a small chair beside the bed of his hotel room, in the middle of the afternoon. He did not seem to get tired of looking at the curly man sleeping. He was catching up for all the time they had been away from each other. He had been looking at him for more than an hour and he was still not sated. It was like looking at a beautiful and complex piece of art. You never got tired of looking at it and always found something new to marvel at.  He had opened the curtain to light up the room just enough so he could see, but not too much so it would get in Will face and wake him up.

He had had a long and hard night and deserved some peaceful sleep. The younger man had fallen asleep on his motorbike five minutes before they had arrived at the hotel. Thankfully, he had been leaning solidly against his back. He had waked him up only to take him in his arms and carry him to his room. Since he had lost weight in the last three months and was already thin to begin with he had been very easy to support. Too easy. Hannibal had not liked that and had sworn to himself he would make him gain some weight once they were at his house, away from the city.

He had felt so proud of him back at Mason house and at the same time he was worried about him. Mostly that killing his younger female colleague would make him feel guilty. As much as he had wished it Will was not exactly a killer. He could kill and feel no remorse, maybe even enjoy it, but he didn’t _love_ it like Hannibal. He could find beauty in what he did, but he would never go hunting with him and help him to make his masterpieces. It had saddened him at first, but he had come to terms with it. As long as he knew what he had the potential to be and accepted his inner darkness the psychiatrist was happy. He didn’t want to change Will into someone he was not after all. Only help him to know himself better and he had done that very successfully.

Killing this young woman however was not something the empath was used to. The only people he had killed before had either been murderer or bad people in general. He had no doubt the man could kill good people too; he just doubted he would enjoy it very much. The only thing that remained to be seen was if besides not enjoying it he would feel remorse for it.

When he had asked to come with him after almost all was over and they were safe he had doubted he had heard him right. Surely he could not already want to leave with him? It turned out he did and there was no time to be amazed by it. They had had to go fast. Miss Douglas had slowed them down, but in the end they had been gone long before any cops had arrived.

Plus Will had been losing blood at the time and probably hurting everywhere from all the bruises he had seen on his body. He needed medical attention and fast. The ex surgeon had been very happy to have medical material in his room when bringing his friend in. He always carried a bag with bandages, the necessary to make suture points, alcohol and some painkiller in case he ever got injured and needed to take care of himself. It was not like he could go into an emergency room and ask to be treated being a fugitive.

As soon as he had laid him down on the bed he had cut off his soaked in blood shirt and gave him a sedative so he would not wake him up while he did the suture points on his neck. He had not lost too much blood thanks to the quick bandage he had made him with his sleeve earlier, but he still had to work quickly. There would be a scar and it would be vaguely similar to the one Abigail had had on her neck, but beside that Will was ok for the moment. He had placed a bandage on it to protect it and checked the rest of his body. There was nothing broken or even sprain miraculously, but big violet bruises were starting to form all over his chest.

He would need a lot of rest in the near future and not be in his best shape for a while. In other words Hannibal would have to play nurse for a little bit. He did not mind. The man he loved was alive and with him and it was all that mattered. It could have been a lot worse considering who had held him hostage and what they had gone through to escape.

The sound of Will grumbling in pain interrupted his thought. He had moved in his sleep and his ribs hurting had waked him up from his already light sleep. Opening his eyes slowly he started to look around in the room and his gaze stopped when he saw Hannibal sitting beside him on a chair.

“How are you feeling?” the doctor asked him softly.   
The eyes of the younger man were shining like he had just seen the most beautiful thing in the world. He seemed genuinely happy to see him. With a small smile he answered:  
“I kind of hurt everywhere, but beside that I’m great. I’m just glad to be ok. ” he added seeing the doubt in the Lithuanian face.

“I sutured the wound on your neck while you were asleep and I examined you to make sure you didn’t have anything broken or sprained.”

Getting up on his elbow Will looked at his naked chest and grunted in pain again at the movement.    
“By the lack of bandage I assume I am fine.”   
He tried to move his pillows to sit leaning against them, but Hannibal stopped him.   
“Let me do it.”   
While arranging the pillow and helping him to settle comfortably he noticed the empath was blushing. That made him inexplicably pleased. He touched his naked shoulder for longer than necessary and whispered “You should be comfortable.”  
  
The little touch seemed to affect him a lot and the killer could have sworn his pulse had just risen up.

“I have my personal doctor now.” he tried to joke, feeling shy under the intense scrutiny of the older man.  
Smiling, he simply responded, caressing his forearm: “Yes, you have”

The eyes of Will were suddenly full of desire and he couldn’t possibly hide it. They didn’t say anything for a minute, just looking at each other until the silence was broken by the wounded man raspy voice.   
“Thank you”   
 “What are you thanking me for exactly?” He was genuinely curious to know.  

 “Taking care of me. Taking me with you when I asked. Coming to save me even if I thought it was incredibly stupid at the time. Everything really.”  
“It is always a pleasure for me to take care of you Will. And as for saving you I would argue that you helped to get us out alive a great deal too.”   

“Yes, but if you had not come and risked your life, I would have been dead right now.”  
  Thinking back to the look of annoyance he had had seeing him surrender himself and what the now ex FBI agent had said back then he asked intrigued:  
“Did you really think I would not come for you? That I would let you die?”

Will shrugged, not looking at him.   
“I didn’t know, but I knew that I didn’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me.”  
“Do you really consider my life more important than yours?”   
Hannibal looked amazed and a bit confused. Still not daring to look up the younger man replied:  
“I... I just think that you would survive better without me than me without you. That’s all.”  
He didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t know what affected him more. The thought that the man loved him more than anyone had done since his aunt or that he didn’t think his feeling were returned with the same force. He had to remedy to the second one.    
 “I think you underestimate my affection for you dear.”

The use of the word “dear” and the sentence in itself really, made Will raise his head in surprise and look at him with big eyes. He swallowed with difficulty before looking away again, clearly overwhelmed. Like he often did when emotional he tried to change the subject.  
“In any ways, I should have known you would find a way to save us both. I just never thought that explosives were your style.”  
“I admit that I don’t like them very much, but they can have their utilities.”

Having gotten hold of his emotions the curly man turned his gaze toward him again. He was curious about something.   
“What would you have done with me once you had saved me if I had not asked to come with you?”  
“I would have left you with Miss Douglas after asking her to call an ambulance for you, I assume.”  
“And if she had not been there?”  
“I would have done what you would have asked of me. I didn’t assume you would be ready to come with me when I went to rescue you.”   
  
The laugh of the empath took him by surprise.   
“It’s kind of funny that it happened when it did. I had just decided that I would leave with you the next time I had the opportunity when I got abducted.”   
Hannibal was taken aback. He had assumed the man had taken his decision when faced with the possibility of losing him at Mason house. That it had been the fear and adrenaline talking more than anything else really. It didn’t make much sense considering how he had reacted at seeing him when he had waked up however.  

“I had finally accepted what I didn’t want to admit to myself. I don’t care what you are. I have feelings for you and you being who you are doesn’t change that. I was not ready to deal with what that meant about me before, but realized I don’t care what it makes me. I am not a good man myself. I know it now and I accept it.”

The killer was the one who felt a little overwhelmed this time. He felt so happy it was almost unbearable. He had no doubt he eyes were probably showing as much when he tenderly caressed Will’s cheek. They looked at each other directly in the eyes not trying to hide anything for the first time since starting this conversation.

He hated to break the moment, but he had to know. Moving back a bit he asked:  
“Do you feel guilty about your colleague, Miss Douglas?”

There was no hesitation in the younger man voice.   
“No. I am not gonna lie and say I enjoyed killing her, but I don’t feel guilty. I am sorry I had to do it, but she gave me no other choice.”  
Hannibal only nodded. He felt relieved and glad to see how far the empath had come since he had met him.

Moving his neck Will hissed in pain.   
“Will I have a scar?” he demanded referring to his bandage.   
“I did the best I could. It should not be too noticeable.”  
“It’s on the same side as Abigail. Did you notice?” he remarked trying to sound casual.

That made the psychiatrist froze for a second. He knew they would have to talk about the girl eventually, but he didn’t think it would happen that soon. It seemed the other man spent his time surprising him lately.

“I did. “  
He looked away thinking. Finally, he decided he owed it to him to say it since he had himself apologized for his actions.

“I am sorry for what I did to Abigail. I know you cared a great deal about her.”   
The empath looked at him for a long while, searching for something, before saying in an astonished tone:   
“You really are!”  
It had been his turn to amaze him this time, it seemed.

He didn’t bother to answer. There was nothing to add to it. Again Will was the one to break the silence that had installed himself.

“So.... how long do we have to stay in this room? Talking of that where are we exactly?   
The killer smiled a little.   
“In a small hotel far from the touristic part of town. We should be able to leave in two or three days when you are feeling better and things have calmed down. After what happened at Mason house they will be on the look for anyone leaving the city.”  
“And how will we go exactly? On your motorbike? Because I don’t think my ribs are gonna be able to handle it.” He told teasing.

“I will steal a vehicle. I had planned to acquire one legally from a friend along with the false paper for it, but alas my friend is dead so we will have to make due.”  
“The friend Mason got the email address from?”  
“Himself.”  
“And where will we go?”  
“That same man more or less gave me a house in the country years ago. It is three hours from here. Far from any big city or anyone for that matter. It is possible that Mason heard of it when he got to my friend, but since he is now dead I am fairly sure it is safe for us to go. The house is just beside the sea. I am certain you will love it.  ”

“I’m sure I will.” A wicked smile slowly appeared on his face and he added: “ but what do we do until then? We still have three days to spend stuck in this room together...”

Hannibal smiled, amused. He got up from his chair and went to sit on the bed next to the half naked man, getting very close. So close he could feel his breath on his face.   
“I may have an idea or two.”   
Looking a lot less confident suddenly the younger man whispered in a croaky voice: “Really? Like what? “  
“May I kiss you Will?” he demanded almost kissing him already. The nod that came to answer him was barely noticeable, but it was there.

They were both very hesitant at first until Will licked the older man bottom lips making him growl in pleasure. The killer then forcefully took control of his mouth, deepening the kiss and the other one letting him with pleasure. The moan he made went directly to Hannibal cock, astonishing him by the force of his desire and strangely helping him regain control of himself. Out of breath he broke the kiss resting his forehead on the empath.    
“I think we will find ways to pass the time until we can go”  
“Yes, I think we should be ok” added Will smirking.

He went to meet his lips again, but the doctor stopped him.

“Now, however, you should rest a bit more.” He said as he pushed him to lie down. “Really?”   
Seeing the frustration on the younger man face he laughed.   
“There will be more later. I promise.”  

He kissed him quickly one last time before lying down next to him on the bed and taking him in his arms gently, not to hurt him too much.

His face buried in his shoulder Will held him as tightly as he could and breathed him in.    
“I missed you so much”   
His lover kissed his curly hair and whispered:   
“As did I, very much so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the last big part of the story. Last chapter should be only them starting their life, lots of talks, lots of fluff and people reacting to the news of them disapearing together. A big fluffy happy ending. xD And no I won't write a sex scene because even if I love those I don't think I would be good at writing it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end was harder to write than all the story put together. It made me realize I suck at writing fluff and happy stuff in general. lol I hope you still love it. I did my best.

It was the middle of the day when Will saw the house for the first time. He loved it, but fell in love even more with the ocean and the beach just behind it. Hannibal parked the car in front of it and not waiting the curly man immediately got out and went to open the door; he had been given the key ten minutes ago. It was beautiful and very light. The entire first floor was one big room that contained the kitchen, dining room and living room. It was all light up by the sun going through the large glass door behind the house. The fact that this same door gave to the ocean was a very nice bonus.

After three days spent in a small dark hotel room it was a true breath of fresh air. Not that the three days had been disagreeable or boring. Far from it. The least pleasant thing had been when they had talked about their months apart. What they had both done, how it had felt to be away from each other, what they were thinking at the time, etc. And even during this conversation there had been some lighter moments. Hannibal had found it very amusing how Will had felt jealous of the people in that small Lithuanian village he had served food to.

He had promised he would cook him all the meals he wanted for the rest of their life and if someday he dared to complain he would remind him of this. They had also made fun together of the article about some acquaintances of the serial killer who had turned vegetarian and wondered how many more he had traumatised.

In Will opinion, the best moments however had been the ones they had spent kissing and doing other things. Hannibal had refused they had complete sex or do anything that would require the healing man to move too much, but he had happily sucked him off more than one time and had let his partner reciprocate the best he could by giving him hand jobs while he whispered in his ears all the things he would do to him once he was better and bitted his neck. Even if had not been in such a bad shape the doctor would have refused to do more since they didn’t have any lube or anything to replace it. Will also suspected he really just wanted their first time having anal sex to not be in some cheap hotel room. He was very romantic for a big scary cannibal.

He had had the proof of that when they had left in the morning of the fourth day. He had been helping him clean the room and prepare the bags when he had found his old winter coat in one of Hannibal suitcase. At first he was not sure it was really it and curious he had got it out. He was stunned when he realized it was indeed the coat he had left on Alana before entering the psychiatrist house for the last time. The other man had seen him and explained:

“I took it when I left so I could have something of you with me.”  
Will had looked at him amazed: “And you kept it all this time?”  
“I couldn’t separate myself from it.”  
The younger man had been so touched that he had kissed him fiercely, not wanting to let go of his mouth or him for a very long time.

The sound of Hannibal getting into the house interrupted his thought and he turned to see him carry bags into the living room. He was emptying the car of all that they had bought on their way. Since neither of them wanted to have to go shopping in the next weeks they had purchased enough food to last them at least a month and all the essentials. They had also bought Will some clothes and most importantly lube to be able to finally enjoy themselves in the way they had both been craving.

The younger man desire to be taken had only gotten higher when he had heard his lover speak Italian to the sales man in the shops. Not able to resist he had murmured in his ear how sexy he found it and how he would only have to speak Italian to him in bed to get him hard and ready. The Lithuanian had groined and smiled at him..

Hannibal came back with the last bags and went to put them in the kitchen. He would have offered to help him sooner, but he knew he would not let him carry anything. He settled to help him empty the bags of food in the refrigerator.  
“Is the house to your taste Will?”  
“I love it. It’s beautiful.”

The moment they finished their task Will pushed Hannibal against the immense counter, a wicked smile on his face.

“How many bedroom is there upstairs?”  
“Only one I am sorry to inform you. Had you planned for us to sleep apart?” he replied amused.   
  
Putting his arms around his neck, the smaller man kissed him softly.   
“Not at all. I will be very happy to share a bed with you. In fact, I think we should go start sharing right now.”  
“Don’t you want to go admire the beach first? The view is beautiful.”   
The killer knew perfectly well he didn’t want to do this, but he loved to tease him.   
“The only thing I want to admire at the moment is how good you look without your clothes on.”

He then proceeded to kiss him a lot more passionately. Feeling Hannibal already half hard against him he smiled internally. For the first time in years he truly looked forward to his future. He had a feeling they were going to be very happy in his house.

  
***

Peter Taylor was coming back home from Nadia Douglas’s house, Kim’s mother. He had insisted to be the one to announce her her daughter death.  Mainly because he felt responsible for it. Matt, his partner, had told him countless times there was nothing he could have done and he didn’t have to do this. In the end, he had given up trying to convince him not to go and had just stated that he would be there for him after.  Matt knew him well and he had been right to worry about what it would do to him. Seeing the old woman trying not to cry in front of him, but failing had made him feel a thousand times worse. He felt guilty for having taken her daughter with him to Europe.

Kim had been very talented in her field and very smart for her age. She did not only understand forensic science, but also people very well and it was why he had chosen her. However, she was still very young and inexperienced and this fact had probably cost her her life. He was not sure exactly what had happened. He knew Will had disappeared in the middle of the night and the agent had decided to go after him herself for some reason. Once at Mason Verger house she had texted him to come immediately and then called him a minute later. He had heard her tell Verger to let Lecter and Graham go and the latter scream at her to shoot at someone. Then there had been something that sounded like an explosion and the call had ended.

He had done the best he could to arrive there in time, but getting a swat team at five in the morning had been harder than expected. It had taken them fifteen minutes to get there and it had been too long. The explosion was not what had killed the young woman. She had been shot in the head after it. From the way her body had been found he had guessed she was standing up and pointing her gun at someone.

 

At first he had thought she had been shot by one of Mason men since it looked like they had been quite a fight however doubt had soon crept up in his mind. He couldn’t prove it of course, but he had a feeling she had been killed by either Will or Hannibal. Maybe she had been the one to wound Will even. They had found a lot of his blood in the crime scene, but Taylor was pretty sure he was not dead.

The fugitive would never have brought his body with him. So it meant that they were together somewhere. No body corresponding to Will description had been found in the three weeks since he had disappeared so he was obviously still alive and in his opinion staying with Lecter by choice, unlike Bedelia DuMaurier. He should have guessed things would end up like this the moment he had seen that note and that flower in Lithuania.

He had been angry at himself as much as he was at Will for betraying him. He had been stupid. He should have seen that the man was not on their side anymore. He was too in love with that serial killer to think straight. It was obvious from the beginning.

He had wanted to go search for them at first, but his superior had refused and ordered him to come home. It was understandable with one agent dead and one missing, but he had still found it frustrating. If he was honest with himself he had to admit he had been happy to come home. He had missed Matt very much and he was getting very irritable in Europe in the end.

Parking his car in front of his house he took a deep breath. His boyfriend was home, waiting for him, and he was grateful for it, but he didn’t want him to see how much it had affected him. He didn’t want to annoy him again with his work and how everything that had happened had made him feel. Yesterday he had came home approximately at the same time after he had gone to see another person he needed to inform of what had happened in Italy. He had not been in a better mood, but at least anger had been his main emotion then.

Dr Alana Bloom was the one he had talked to. He knew of her history with Lecter and knew she had been a friend of Will. Before leaving for Europe she had come to tell him how stupid she thought he was for bringing the empath with him. He had assumed it was only because she was worried for her friend back then, but he had realized when talking to her again yesterday that it had been more than that. When he had told her that it was very probable that Graham had run away with Lecter she had not seemed shocked or surprised. Only sad.

“You knew about his feeling for him?” he had asked her in an accusative tone.   
“I had doubts, but I couldn’t know for sure. I don’t think even Will knew it at the time.”

It had made him feel even more guilty. He had basically helped him realize his feeling for the man by bringing him with him and then helped them reunite later. Hell of an agent he was. The woman could have blamed him for everything and be angry at him, but she didn’t.    
“I am not gonna deny that I think you are partly responsible for what happened. If you had not forced Will to go with you he would not have been put in a situation where he could take the decisions that he took, but you are not responsible for everything Mister Taylor. Will made his own choices and you have nothing to do with them.”

He was not responsible for the agent bad choices, only to have put him in the situation where he could make those choices. Somehow he doubted that would help him sleep at night. Dr Bloom had not said much after that and he had left feeling worse than before. He felt so angry at himself that he had been in a bad mood all night after that and Matt had left him his space sensing it was not the time to question him.

This time he would not be able to escape it however. Getting out of his car and walking to his door he realized he didn’t mind that much. He wanted to move on from this mess and talking about it would help. He knew that. Cuddling with his lover in bed tonight would also be very helpful to make him feel better. Probably more so than talking if he was honest.

 

***

They had already been at the house for three weeks. Hannibal had not seen those weeks pass by, but at the same time it felt like they had always been there. Time had ceased to exist. There was only him and Will in their little bubble far away from everything.

He was glad he had waited to have a proper bed and some lubricant to take Will for the first time. First because he had not had to restrain himself too much for fear of hurting him and second because he had wanted it to be as perfect as possible and doing it in a cheap hotel room would not have made it so. He had not had a lot of partner in his life, but the empath was incontestably the best one. Maybe because he was the first one he truly loved or could be himself with. Probably both those reasons and the fact that Will seemed to take as much pleasure in receiving than giving.

He would be lying if he said they hadn’t had a lot of sex since arriving at the house. They had. Everywhere possible, including the beach. Nonetheless, it was not all that they had done. They had spent a lot of time in each other’s arms talking about nothing important or admiring the view on the veranda. They had taken walks on the beach and Hannibal had gone swimming a couple of time. Will was not much of a swimmer however and mostly stayed close to the sand and sat in the water.

One night in the house the killer had put on some music and had forced him to dance with him. The curly man had protested greatly saying he was horrible, but in the end he had done it. He was indeed terrible and they had been a lot of laugher at first because of it, but he had gotten the hang of it after a while. He still didn’t particularly like dancing, but he liked being in his lover arms so it was enough. 

Hannibal had also been able to do something he had missed greatly. He had cooked. A lot. The doctor had never been one to make very big plate, but with Will who had lost so much weight he started doing just that. He always gave him more than he had himself.

At the beginning, he had complained that he wanted to make his stomach explode. He was so used to eating almost nothing that those meals were hard to eat entirely for him. He had joked one time after dinner when his stomach hurted from all the food he had consumed that he had discovered his evil master plan. He had brought him there just to kill him from an overdose of food. Was it even possible? Probably not, but he didn’t care. He was sure it was his plan. He was half laughing half grunting in pain while saying this and Hannibal had smiled amused. Something he discovered in those three weeks was how funny and playful Will could be when he was happy. He sometimes acted childish too, like this time, but even in those occasions he was too adorable to be annoying. He still made him finish all his plate after that and in result he looked more and more healthy every day.

They had spent some times talking about more serious things too. Mostly Hannibal past.  In the hotel room Will had mentioned Lady Murasaki had told him some things about his childhood, but he had not elaborated on it and neither of them wanted to talk about it then. One night after making love Hannibal had brought the subject back and asked him what his aunt had told him exactly. She had told him everything she knew so he had not had to add a lot of things to the story beside his own perspective or thought of the times. The younger man had appreciated him talking about it. It was a big sign of trust and he knew that.  

They hadn’t planned to leave the house at all, but one time they had actually gone out to a post office thirty minute away to send a post card to Margot Verger. It had been Will idea and he had been the one insisting they send it as soon as possible. The serial killer was not one to refuse something that could make his lover happy so he had accepted. Of course the address of origin had been changed and it was signed “the sperm donner”. The message only said “We were happy to finally finish the work for you. Enjoy your life free of him. If you wish to contact us:...” and then there was the email address Hannibal had used with his Italian friend.  There was also the quote “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again” which he didn’t really understand the utility of, but Will had said that it was something she would understand.

 

This morning they had gone in the car to town to get a Wi Fi network and check his inbox. There was a message from the woman. “I should have guessed you two weirdo would end up together. Thank you for my brother. I hope you don’t get caught and are as happy as can be.”

Hannibal didn’t care about her opinion on them really, but the email seemed to make his partner very happy so he was glad she had replied. He had always appreciated the woman after all so he didn’t mind the fact that Will had developed some sort of affection for her. He knew she was not the only person the man wished to contact nonetheless. He would never try to contact Alana, but it was obvious he wished he could have. The psychiatrist was too much of a moral person however and they both knew that if they sent anything to her she would automatically go to the FBI with it.

It frustrated him mainly because it made Will sad, but it had not been the case today at least. Since he had read the message of Margot he had looked happier than usual. Hannibal strongly suspected that it was not only the person who had sent it who made him this happy, but the idea that someone other than them knew and approved of their relationship. Someone wished them to be happy.

That simple fact seemed to have triggered something in his brain because that night he spoke to him about something he had not yet approached, but obviously had been thinking about.

They were both on the patio, sitting in silence close to one another, watching the sun set when he broached the subject. He asked him if he thought about their future together. He sensed it was more of an opening question to arrive to what he actually wanted to talk about, so he just answered: “Sometimes.Why?”   
“I had been thinking that eventually we could go live in a house we chose together, in a other country and start a life there. I love it here, but we can’t spend the rest of our life here doing nothing. If we went to live in a place a bit less far from everything I could maybe get a job repairing motor boat and you could... well I don’t know. Do whatever you want really. I just want to help a little. I know you have money, but I want to fend for myself. And I want us to have a home somewhere. A place we both chose”

He looked a bit nervous after saying all that and that made Hannibal smile.   
“I think it is a wonderful idea and I understand your desire to contribute and help to chose where you will spend the rest of your life perfectly well Will. You don’t have to worry about offending me.”  
Will entire body unclenched in relief.   
“However there is one thing. We will have to stay here at least three more months. We are still researched men and it would be safer for us to wait until the general population forget who we are.”  
There was also that he wanted to enjoy some more time alone with his lover away from the rest of the world, but he didn’t add it.   
“Of course. I understand. I wasn’t speaking of leaving now anyway. I have just got you and I am not ready to share you with the rest of the world yet.”

Happy to see the other man shared his opinion he kissed him. He just could not help himself. Will had a big smile plastered on his face when he left his lips.   
“Plus we will keep the house. We can always come back from time to time in the future. When we want to get away from everything.”   
He just nodded at that and took the younger man hand. They stayed in silence for a while watching the sun who had now almost finish setting until it was interrupted by a very anxious speech:  
“There is something else. You don’t have to say yes and I would understand if you said no. I was thinking maybe we could have a dog in our new house. I know you don’t love them as much as I do, but I don’t think you hate them and my dogs always seemed to like you. We would have just one and I would train him well. He would not come into our room or on the sofa or whatever rules you want and...”

Will was speaking so fast he didn’t let Hannibal any time to say anything. He interrupted him mid sentence when he started to babble.   
“Will, I have no problem with having a dog”  
In that instant the younger man looked very much like a puppy himself, looking at him with big hopeful eyes and a surprised face.   
“Really?”   
He smiled amused at his doubts: “Really. I would prefer it if you didn’t start collecting them like you used to, but I am fine with one. Your dogs are always well trained so I don’t see any reason to object. I also know that it would make you happy and that is all that matter.”   
The empath smile was so big he looked like a five years old.

He said he was fine with one dog and it was truth, but it was also true that if Will had asked for more than one he would have probably not been able to say no. Making him happy was his priority and saying no to him was not something he was really good at as of yet.

Later that night when they went to bed together he thought about the life his lover had described and he couldn’t help but feel incredibly happy. He had never been technically unhappy before meeting Will, but he had realized lately that he had not known true happiness before him either.

They had both been planning to stay with each other for as long as possible from the moment they had left together, but with the plans they had made for the future it seemed a lot more real suddenly. From then on they could talk about their future, envision it and prepare it. If Will had seemed at peace and content before it was nothing compared to after they had both expressed their desire to spend the rest of their life with each other. Of course they was always the possibility of something happening. They could get arrested or killed at any time, but they were both determined to share their life together and it was all that mattered.

Soon they would start looking for houses in the countries they had selected. They would use this opportunity to travel a little bit before settling down. Hannibal would finally be able to show the younger man all the places he had been yearning to show him. They would get the life he had wanted them to get when he had originally tried to leave with Will.

They both had some new scars and had almost died a couple of times, but they would still get their life together. Thinking about it, it would probably be even better than what they would have had since the first time they hadn’t known each other as well and had not realized just how much they really needed and loved each other.

Fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will probably write a little one shot set five years in the future centered around Lady Murasaki at some point. Just so you know.


End file.
